GASTAT Unveils Key Insights From The 2024 Agricultural Statistics Publication

The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) has published its 2024 Agricultural Statistics Publication, highlighting key figures in Saudi Arabia's agricultural sector. Date production reached around 1,923 thousand tons, showing a slight increase of 1% from the previous year. The number of date palm trees surpassed 37.6 million, with over 32 million being fruit-bearing.

In the grain sector, total production amounted to 1,651 thousand tons in 2024. Wheat made up a significant portion of this at approximately 1,187 thousand tons, although it saw a decrease of 9.7% compared to 2023. Open-field vegetable cultivation covered an area of 89,700 hectares, yielding 2,745 thousand tons, which is an increase of 8.4% from the previous year.

Potatoes led open-field vegetable production with a volume of 624 thousand tons, closely followed by watermelons at about 612 thousand tons. Greenhouse vegetables also saw growth, reaching a production volume of 797 thousand tons in 2024—an increase of 10.6% from the previous year.

The area dedicated to greenhouse cultivation was about 7,800 hectares, with over 121,000 greenhouses used for growing vegetables. Tomatoes were the top greenhouse crop at 329 thousand tons, followed by cucumbers at more than 232 thousand tons. Organic agriculture for perennial trees (excluding date palms) occupied around 12,500 hectares or about half of the total organic farming area.

Organic farming for date palms covered approximately 6,200 hectares. In terms of exports, agricultural crop exports reached a total of 506 thousand tons in 2024. This represented a growth of 13% compared to the previous year.

Agricultural Exports and Trends

Fruits and edible nuts were significant contributors to exports, making up about 72.1% of the total agricultural crop export volume for the year. These statistics reflect ongoing trends and shifts within Saudi Arabia's agricultural landscape as it continues to develop and adapt.

The data provided by GASTAT offers valuable insights into the performance and changes within various segments of agriculture in Saudi Arabia for the year 2024.

With inputs from SPA