GASTAT's flash estimate puts Q2 real GDP down 4.8% year on year, oil activities −24.7%, non-oil +0.6%, government +0.9%. Seasonally adjusted, the economy shrank 4.9% on the quarter. For context, the Q1 2026 flash showed GDP +3.0% with non-oil +2.8%. so on a like-for-like flash basis, non-oil growth has fallen from 2.8% to 0.6% in one quarter.
A −4.8% print looks bad and mostly isn't; a +0.6% print looks fine and mostly isn't. That inversion is the whole difficulty of reading this economy right now, the alarming number is the reassuring one, and the reassuring number is the one to worry about.
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Twenty-four thousand AI registrations
Saudi Arabia's commercial registrations in artificial intelligence reached 24,552 records, up 31% since 2025 and the fastest growth among Vision 2030 sectors, according to Ministry of Commerce data. Cybersecurity registrations reached 11,275, up 22%, virtual and augmented reality 13,853, up 21%, and e-commerce 52,241, up 9%, with the Kingdom having designated 2026 its Year of Artificial Intelligence.
A registration serves as a licence rather than a business. The fact that 24,552 registrations are increasing at a rate of 31% indicates that intent is developing much more rapidly than actual capability.
Al Rajhi tops SR13.7bn
H1 bank profits: Al Rajhi SR13.76bn (+14.15%, highest of any lender), SNB SR13.02bn, Riyad SR5.26bn, Alinma SR3.27bn; total credit a record SR3.2tn, +16.2% YoY
The takeaway: Al Rajhi out-earned every bank and grew fastest; scale and speed together are rare, worth studying.
Eleven percent against twenty
PIF launched Tawrid Co. for Financing Solutions, a digital platform connecting buyers, suppliers and funders with products including early settlement against approved invoices, as the Kingdom works to widen SME financing. The Financial Sector Development Program targets raising SMEs' share of bank financing to 20% by 2030, while the latest IMF data show SME loans accounted for 11% of total bank loans in 2025.
Invoice-backed credit is the chosen mechanism to reach 20%, so a finance director at a Saudi SME should prepare payables data instead of another loan application.
