Saudi Arabia: Claims on private sector (annual growth as % of broad money)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2017, Saudi Arabia's claims on private sector (annual growth as % of broad money) fell 2.52 percentage points on 2016 (from 1.87% to -0.65%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1987 to 2016), the average change was +0.07 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 7.12 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 19.67 percentage points in 1974 and the biggest yearly fall was 19.74 percentage points in 2009. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2008 to 2017 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 23% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

Closest to Saudi Arabia in the 2017 ranking

• Lebanon — 1st of 3: 2.5%
• Switzerland — 2nd of 3: 2.11%

What this measures

Claims on private sector include gross credit from the financial system to individuals, enterprises, nonfinancial public entities not included under net domestic credit, and financial institutions not included elsewhere. Broad money is the sum of all liquid financial instruments held by money-holding sectors that are widely accepted in an economy as a medium of exchange, plus those that can be converted into a medium of exchange at short notice at, or close to, their full nominal value. This indicator represents the annual percentage growth in the ratio of claims to broad money.

All 57 values

Claims on private sector (annual growth as % of broad money) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 0.01% (2020)
• Algeria — 1.99% (2025)
• Bahrain — 6.23% (2015)
• Djibouti — 6.93% (2025)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 7.34% (2025)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 20.07% (2016)
• Iraq — 3.57% (2024)
• Israel — 6.49% (2025)
• Jordan — 1.91% (2025)

More financial sector data for Saudi Arabia

• GDP deflator (base year varies by country) — 97.69 (2025)
• DEC alternative conversion factor (LCU per US$) — US$3.75 (2025)
• Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) — US$3.75 (2025)
• Inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) — -2.57% (2025)
• Consumer price index (2010 = 100) — 137.21 (2025)
• Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP) — 64.31% (2025)
• Inflation, consumer prices (annual % growth) — 2.04% (2025)
• Net foreign assets (current LCU) — 2 trillion (2017)
• Monetary sector credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 50.14% (2017)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Saudi Arabia's claims on private sector (annual growth as % of broad money)?

-0.65% in 2017, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1961?

It is down 8.88 percentage points from 8.23% in 1961. The highest value was 30.4% in 1974 and the lowest -4.45% in 1990.

Is the latest change in claims on private sector (annual growth as % of broad money) unusual for Saudi Arabia?

In 2017, Saudi Arabia's claims on private sector (annual growth as % of broad money) fell 2.52 percentage points on 2016 (from 1.87% to -0.65%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1987 to 2016), the average change was +0.07 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 7.12 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator FM.AST.PRVT.ZG.M3, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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