The Kingdom’s total public debt reached 1.39 trillion riyals by the end of the first half of 2025

By: Mamdoh Almalki

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s public debt reached approximately 1.386 trillion riyals by the end of the first half of 2025, compared to approximately 1.216 trillion riyals by the end of 2024, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.

The data showed that domestic debt rose to 871.3 billion riyals by the end of the period, compared to 738.25 billion riyals at the beginning of the year, an increase of approximately 133.05 billion riyals. Meanwhile, external debt rose from 477.66 billion riyals to 515.13 billion riyals, an increase of approximately 37.47 billion riyals.

In terms of issuances, the government issued or borrowed approximately 197.57 billion riyals and repaid approximately 64.51 billion riyals in principal, without executing any government bond amortization operations.

Regarding external debt, issuances amounted to SAR 54.04 billion, while SAR 16.57 billion of the external debt principal was repaid.

This coincides with the announcement of the second-quarter budget, which revealed revenues of SAR 301.595 billion, compared to expenditures of SAR 336.129 billion, resulting in a deficit of SAR 34.534 billion.