As argued in our GCC 2024 outlook, government spending supported growth in the region in 2023 and is expected to continue playing an important role in the near-to-medium term as countries look to achieve their ambitious development, diversification and net-zero targets.
Using project-level data, from MEED, we can gain a more detailed view of the scale of spending on large projects in the region. At the time of writing, the value of projects (both private and public sector) in execution in the GCC was over USD 572bn, with projects in the construction sector dominating. The value of projects currently in execution, is largest in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Looking ahead there remains a sizeable pipeline of projects in the GCC. The bulk of these projects are however in a design or study phase, with a significantly smaller share in more advanced stages.
These pre-execution projects are weighted towards construction (34% share), transport (20% share) and power (15%). Roughly 50% of GCC projects in pre-execution phases are in Saudi Arabia, while 23% are in the UAE.