An analytical study of the fish sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1995-2021)

Abstract

With government support for the fisheries sector, the amount of local fish production is growing, reaching about 177 thousand tons in 2021. This is due to the development of fish farming projects, which contributed about 64% of the amount of local fish production. However, there is a deficit in the fish trade balance as a result of relying on abroad to meet the population’s fish needs, as the amount of fish imports for 2021 amounted to about 160 thousand tons, which represents about 53% of the population's fish needs. This research aimed to analyze the fisheries sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The research relied on the quantitative descriptive analysis method, such as the minimum, maximum, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, and estimation of the relative coefficient of variation, and the use of the Phillips-Perron (PP) test to test the stationarity of time series, and the use of mathematical equations to estimate the periods of production sufficiency and import coverage for local consumption, in addition to the amount of surplus and deficit in consumption. The most important results of the study were:1- Growth in local fish production at an annual growth rate of about 4.6%, while production from saltwater fish farming grew by about 12.3%, while production from freshwater fish farming grew by about 8.4% of the general average.2- The growth of the deficit in the fish trade balance at an annual growth rate of about 4.2% Despite the growth in the quantity of fish exports, the quantity of fish imports is growing exponentially, as the annual growth rate reached about 5.12% of the general average.3The average period of sufficient production for local fish consumption was approximately 176day, while the period for imports to cover domestic fish consumption was approximately 227day.