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The General Authority for Statistics released flash estimates indicating that real gross domestic product fell 4.8 percent in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier. A 24.7 percent contraction in oil activities drove the decline according to the authority while non-oil activities expanded 0.6 percent and government activities rose 0.9 percent. The General Authority for Statistics breakdown attributed a subtraction of 5.4 percentage points to oil with non-oil activities adding 0.4 percentage points and both government activities and net taxes contributing 0.1 percentage points each.
On a seasonally adjusted basis the General Authority for Statistics placed the quarter-on-quarter GDP contraction at 4.9 percent. Oil activities declined 21.5 percent from the preceding quarter under those figures while non-oil activities slipped 0.5 percent. Government activities recorded a 0.2 percent increase on the adjusted quarterly basis the authority reported.
The second-quarter outcome contrasts with the first quarter of 2026 when the General Authority for Statistics reported real GDP growth of 3.0 percent year-on-year. Both oil and non-oil activities expanded by 2.9 percent in that period with government activities increasing 1.5 percent according to the authority’s earlier data. Seasonally adjusted GDP decreased 1.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2025 in the January-to-March period GASTAT figures show.
The non-oil growth rate of 0.6 percent in the second quarter of 2026 slowed from the 4.7 percent increase recorded in the second quarter of 2025. The General Authority for Statistics had reported overall GDP growth of 3.9 percent for that year-earlier period with oil activities advancing 3.8 percent. The authority’s historical releases illustrate how swings in oil production influence headline GDP readings from one quarter to the next.
The General Authority for Statistics issues these flash estimates using preliminary data compiled shortly after each quarter ends. The authority draws on indicators from energy ministries and other agencies to produce the initial readings. More comprehensive national accounts and revisions typically appear in subsequent publications from the statistical body.
In its first-quarter 2026 release the General Authority for Statistics highlighted positive contributions across oil non-oil and government segments. The second-quarter flash estimates reflect a reversal confined largely to the oil component. The authority plans to issue fuller sectoral details in coming weeks as additional data become available.
