SME sector

• There are an estimated total of 500,000 Saudi Arabian SMEs, which account for 93 per cent of all enterprises in the country.
• HSBC reports that Saudi Arabian SMEs are among the most confident in the MENA region, with a majority expecting an increase in both productivity and profits in 2010 and beyond.

Economy

• The oil and associated services sector accounts for around 45% of the country’s total revenues, 55% of GDP, and 90% of export earnings.
• Saudi Arabia was ranked as 16th in the World Bank’s annual “Doing Business” report, climbing from 67th in just three years.
• Religious tourism, mainly from the annual Hajj pilgrimage, accounted for an estimated 12 million visitors in 2008, up 34 per cent from 2006.

Society

• The liberalization of the mobile phone sector in the early part of this century has resulted in mobile penetration rates climbing to 144%.