Saudi GDP exceeds SR 2.2 trillion

Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product exceeded SR 2.2 trillion in 2011, registering a growth rate of 31 percent in current prices, compared to the previous year, the General Statistics Department has reported. "During the same year, the private sector GDP grew by 14.7 percent," the department said in the report, quoted by Arab News Monday. Nonoil exports rose 31 percent to SR 176 billion, which accounted for eight percent of the GDP, the report added. The Kingdom’s total exports in 2011 amounted to more than SR 1.41 trillion, the department said while highlighting Saudi Arabia’s remarkable economic progress.