Saudi Arabia's Business Sector Optimism Ticks Down in September Amid Input Cost Concerns

04:05 AM EDT, 10/08/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Optimism among Saudi Arabian businesses slightly deteriorated in September as input cost pressures in construction and services outweighed gains in the industrial sector, data from the General Authority for Statistics showed Thursday. The country's business confidence index came in at 56.6 points, down from 56.7 points the previous month. The figure represents a monthly decline of 0.2%, following a 0.3% rise in August. However, the statistics agency noted that the reading still signals optimism, with businesses remaining confident in economic stability and sustained broad-based sectoral growth. The kingdom's industrial business confidence index rose to 56.3 points in September from 55.8 points a month ago, driven by stronger confidence in overall performance and expected sales. Conversely, the business confidence index for Saudi's services sector dipped by 0.7 points to 55.4 points. Meanwhile, the construction sector's index edged down to 57.1 points from August's 57.3 points.