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Signal · Geopolitical Risk

‎Saudi non-oil business confidence rises 0.3% in August

Argaam - Main News Trade press Published 9th September 2026 Saudi Arabia

What the source reported

Source-reported

‎<p><img src="https://argaamplus.s3.amazonaws.com/0acdaaa9-fac6-4e06-b6b1-dbe606621459.png" ></p> <p class="ckeCaption" >The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's flag</p> <hr> <p >Saudi Arabia’s non-oil business confidence index increased by 0.3% month-on-month (MoM) in August 2026, according to data from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).</p> <p ></p> <p >The Business Confidence Index stood at 56.7 points in August, up 0.2 points from 56.5 points in July.</p> <p ></p> <p >The increase in the index reflects prevailing optimism across the business sector, supported by establishments’ confidence in the stability of economic activity in the Kingdom and continued growth across various sectors, said the authority.</p> <p ></p> <p >GASTAT defines the business confidence index as a measure of optimism and pessimism about future developments in the non-oil sector, based on surveys covering output, inputs, employment, as well as business development and expansion activities.</p> <p ></p> <p ></p> <p >Among the key economic sectors, the Business Confidence Index for the industrial sector rose by 1.04 points MoM to 55.8 points, driven by increased confidence, particularly regarding expectations for overall performance and employment.</p> <p ></p> <p ></p> <p >The index for the services sector also grew by 0.9 points to 56.1 points, backed by greater optimism among establishments, particularly with regard to overall performance and fixed investment spending.</p> <p ></p> <p ></p> <p ></p> <p >Meanwhile, the construction sector recorded a limited decline of 0.4 points to 57.3 points, attributed to lower confidence levels regarding input costs during the current month and expectations for the following month.</p> <p ></p> <p ></p> <p ></p> <table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr > <td colspan="4" > <p ><strong><span >Business Confidence Index Based on Economic Activities</span></strong></p> </td> </tr> <tr > <td > <p ><strong><span ><span ><span >Category</span></span></span></strong></p> </td> <td > <p align="center" ><strong><span ><span ><span >July 2026</span></span></span></strong></p> </td> <td > <p align="center" ><strong><span ><span ><span >August 2026</span></span></span></strong></p> </td> <td > <p align="center" ><strong><span ><span ><span >Change</span></span></span></strong></p> </td> </tr> <tr > <td > <p ><strong><span ><span ><span >Industry</span></span></span></strong></p> </td> <td > <p align="center" ><span ><span >54.74</span></span></p> </td> <td > <p align="center" ><span ><span >55.79</span></span></p> </td> <td > <p align="center" ><span ><span ><span >1.04 </span></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr > <td > <p ><strong><span ><span ><span >Services</span></span></span></strong></p> </td> <td > <p align="center" ><span ><span >55.28</span></span></p> </td> <td > <p align="center" ><span ><span >56.15</span></span></p> </td> <td > <p align="center" ><span ><span ><span >0.87 </span></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr > <td > <p ><strong><span ><span ><span >Construction</span></span></span></strong></p> </td> <td > <p align="center" ><span ><span >57.73</span></span></p> </td> <td > <p align="center" ><span ><span >57.31</span></span></p> </td> <td > <p align="center" ><span ><span ><span >(0.42)</span></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr > <td > <p ><strong><span ><span ><span >Year</span></span></span></strong></p> </td> <td > <p align="center" ><strong><span ><span ><span >56.55</span></span></span></strong></p> </td> <td > <p align="center" ><strong><span ><span ><span >56.72</span></span></span></strong></p> </td> <td > <p align="center" ><strong><span ><span ><span >+0.17</span></span></span></strong></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

Publication
Argaam - Main News · Trade Publication
Published
9th September 2026
Original report
argaam.com

ProcIntel stores what the source published in its feed — a headline, a summary and a link. It does not store or reproduce the full article.

What ProcIntel recorded

ProcIntel-derived
Category
Geopolitical Risk
Geography
Saudi Arabia
Organisations
None identified
Collected
9th September 2026 · 15:38

Initial assessment ProcIntel's automatic, provisional read of this individual Signal -- Initial Significance and Initial Confidence, computed deterministically before any Event extraction or human review.

A provisional, automatically computed reading of this individual Signal, before Event extraction or human review. Not a final rating.

Significance 2 · Moderate
Confidence 2 · Low

Initial Significance Moderate (35.0/100). Strongest contributor: Procurement Impact (27.0/30 points). Limiting factor: Geographic Breadth (0.0/10 points). Initial Confidence Low (31.5/100, data sufficiency: Partial). Strongest contributor: Source Authority (20.0/40 points). Limiting factor: Corroboration (2.5/25 points).

Strongest contributor
Procurement Impact
Limiting factor
Geographic Breadth