Riyadh – Mubasher: The number of factories under construction in Saudi Arabia rose by 21.5% year-on-year at the end of the fourth quarter of 2017 to 820, compared to 675 factories in the same period a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Investment's data.

Capital of these factories totalled SAR 25.44 billion in the three-month period ended December 2017, versus SAR 20.27 billion in the same period the year before.

Workforce at these factories amounted to 48,310 workers in Q4-17, compared to 50,870 in the comparable period a year ago.

Riyadh has the biggest number of factories under construction at the end of 2017, with total 344 factories, followed by the Eastern Province with about 132 plants and Makkah with 126 factories.

Riyadh’s under construction factories are executed with capital worth SAR 8.89 billion, while the capital of under construction factories in Makkah and the Eastern Province amounted to SAR 5.52 billion and SAR 3.93 billion, respectively.

Moreover, Riyadh’s facilities have about 19,200 workers, while Makkah, the Eastern Province, and Asir region have 9,770, 6,550, and 2,860 workers, respectively.