McDonald’s activity drives notable growth in Saudi economy

This is according to the report by Oxford Economics. 

A report by Oxford Economics estimates that McDonald’s contributed about SAR 3.6b to Saudi Arabia’s GDP between April 2024 and March 2025 and supported more than 22,500 jobs across direct and related sectors.

The study breaks the economic impact into three parts: SAR 1.1b from McDonald’s own operations, SAR 1.7b from spending with local suppliers, and SAR 800m from employee and supply chain spending.

It also estimates a multiplier effect, stating that every SAR 1m in direct contribution generates an additional SAR 2.2m in GDP across the economy.

McDonald’s operates over 438 restaurants in the Kingdom and served more than 121 million meals during the period, including about 89 million in-restaurant meals and over 32 million through delivery and other channels.

On employment, the company’s operations supported 13,078 direct jobs and 9,450 indirect jobs in supply chains and related industries.

The report notes that more than SAR 4.6m was spent on training and development, with over 2,500 training hours delivered and more than 6,000 certifications issued in areas such as operations, customer service, and team leadership.

It also records 53,000 volunteer hours by staff and more than SAR 4m in donations to groups supporting people with disabilities, youth initiatives, and other community programmes, along with over 28,000 meals distributed to schools and vulnerable groups.

McDonald’s also invested more than SAR 312m in new restaurant construction and renovations during the period, representing around 11% of its supplier-related spending.