Under the patronage of Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Saudi Arabia recently held its inaugural Cultural Investment Conference. The event reflected the remarkable growth of the cultural sector in recent years: Eighty-nine agreements worth a total of nearly five billion riyals were signed, with many foreign investors, fund managers, and company executives in attendance. The success of the Conference attests to the Kingdom’s ability to shape the trajectory of cultural investment and sustainable creative industries.
Amid the rapid shifts underway in the cultural sector, which bring with them unprecedented challenges, the conference sought to anticipate and prepare for the future, stimulate investments, and create promising opportunities in the cultural field. Global indicators highlight the importance of creative and cultural industries, which are pillars of the economy for nations around the world. Annual global cultural investment now stands at approximately 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars, about 3.1 percent of the global economy.
Given its scale and the exponential growth it has achieved over the past two decades, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince have placed unprecedented emphasis on Saudi Arabia’s cultural sector, rendering it among the fastest-growing sectors in the country. The sector’s trajectory has been rising dramatically since the launch of Saudi Vision 2030, the establishment of the Ministry of Culture, the rollout of the National Culture Strategy, and the establishment of 11 cultural commissions to cover the various fields.
This sustained support has clearly borne fruit since the announcement of Vision 2030. Before 2018, the culture sector contributed no more than 30 billion riyals to the national economy. Since then, the Saudi cultural sector has gone from playing a supporting role to being a key facet of the economy, with the Kingdom now closer than ever to achieving its ambitious goal of raising the sector’s share of GDP to 3 percent. In 2023 alone, the sector contributed nearly 60 billion riyals to the GDP, with the financial support allocated to the cultural sector rising to about 7.1 billion riyals in 2024. Investments in Saudi Arabia’s cultural infrastructure have reached unprecedented levels in the country’s history, surpassing 81 billion riyals.
Thanks to a comprehensive package of government-led initiatives within the framework of Saudi Vision 2030, the number of people employed in the culture sector has surged to 234,000. The number of graduates in cultural fields rose by more than 79 percent last year, and culture-related employment’s share of the job market increased by 65 percent. Moreover, 25 percent of the Ministry of Culture’s projects aimed to build capacity, with over 500 launched in a relatively brief period.
The private sector’s presence in the cultural domain in recent years has risen to unprecedented levels. For example, the Kingdom became home to over 51,000 companies that provide cultural services in 2023, 23.6 percent more than in 2021. The sector received 377 million riyals in direct support last year. By the third quarter of this year, the Cultural Development Fund had financed 150 cultural projects through its various financial solutions, allocating a total of over 508 million riyals to investments and grants. The Fund has also empowered 1,517 entrepreneurs (both men and women) in all fields through its development programs. It aims to bridge 45 percent of the existing financing gap, inject 13.8 billion riyals into the sector in financial support in partnership with the private sector, and create 30,000 jobs.
The number of non-profit cultural associations, institutions, and clubs has risen astronomically, from 28 in 2017 to 1,499 today. Participation in cultural activities has also risen significantly across the board. Between 2021 and 2024, over 23.5 million locals attended cultural events, already exceeding the 2030 target of 22 million.
Additionally, the Kingdom has witnessed a notable increase in cultural assets and the emergence of new players on the cultural scene, including major museums, centers, and art exhibitions that stand out for their ambition and prominence—such as the Diriyah Art Futures, the Diriyah Biennale, the Islamic Arts Biennale, JAX District, and the Red Sea International Film Festival, among others.
Given the remarkable trajectory of Saudi Arabia’s cultural sector, there are immense and promising investment opportunities. Cultural investment has surged to 1.8 billion riyals, with 1,700 foreign investors entering the market. This reinforces our conviction that private and non-profit sectors are partners on this journey. By 2030, the goal is to raise attendance at cultural events and sites, increase the number of graduates in cultural disciplines to 255,000, ensure that the sector’s share of GDP increases to 3 percent, create over 346,000 jobs, and raise the value of cultural exports to 24 billion riyals.
Cultural output’s share of the national economy has also risen significantly. Over 3.5 billion riyals in investment has been made in the cinematic infrastructure so far, generating annual revenues of 900 million riyals from ticket sales. The value of the fashion, film, and culinary industries in Saudi Arabia is projected to rise to between 31.9 billion and 34.8 billion riyals by 2030.
Similarly, demand for cultural financial support is expected to rise to between 75 billion and 85.1 billion riyals by 2030, with growing demand creating private investment opportunities estimated to range between 25.1 billion and 34.8 billion riyals. All of this positive momentum in the sector underscores the force and resilience of Saudi Arabia’s cultural sector; both local and foreign investors are being drawn to it, with its appeal strongly enhanced by the priorities of the Saudi cultural model and its vision for developing infrastructure, regulatory frameworks, and creating incentives.
It is important to note the greatest and most valuable asset of cultural investment: Saudi artists. They have always been and will always remain the foundational pillar and driving force of Saudi culture. Cultural investment begins in the minds of Saudi artists and their creations, which both understand the national culture and convey it to local and global audiences in a manner befitting of the Kingdom’s stature, traditions, and identity.
From the pioneering generation to that of today, the nation’s many creative minds have produced remarkable works. We are nurturing the talents of future creators, notably through cultural and artistic academies and institutions, which will soon be crowned by the Riyadh University of the Arts, placing Saudi artists at the center of cultural investment and building a new generation that will carry its cultural renaissance to new heights.