The commercial registrations for cloud computing services in Saudi Arabia have grown by 70%, according to a report from the Ministry of Commerce.
Moreover, the report for the fourth quarter of 2024 revealed that there’s been a 36% increase in the growth of commercial registrations in the application development sector, and a 12% increase in fintech solutions activity.
Cloud Computing
The Ministry noted that providing cloud computing services is one of the most prominent economic activities and promising sectors in the Kingdom, as the number of commercial registrations in this sector reached 3,005 by the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 1,759 registrations for the same period in 2023.
The Riyadh region ranked first with 1,900 registrations, followed by the Makkah region (575 registrations), Eastern Province (329 registrations), Madinah (72 registrations), and Asir (37 registrations).
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Application Development
The Ministry noted that commercial registrations for application development witnessed a growth rate of 36%, recording 15,800 registrations by the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 11,600 registrations for the same period in 2023. The Riyadh region topped the list with 9,700 registrations, followed by the Makkah region (3,200 registrations), the Eastern Province (1,600 registrations), Madinah (467 registrations), and Asir (249 registrations).
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Fintech
The commercial registrations for fintech solutions witnessed a growth rate of 12%, reaching 3,152 by the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to the 2,795 registrations recorded during the same period in 2023. The Riyadh region led with 1,900 registrations, followed by the Makkah region (636 registrations), the Eastern Province (309 registrations), Madinah (86 registrations), and Qassim (44 registrations).
Interestingly, the total number of commercial registrations in the Kingdom has reached more than 1.6 million, 30% of which were registered by institutions owned by women, and 38% of which were registered by institutions owned by the youth.
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Telecom operators like Zain KSA, stc, and Mobily are actively working with vendors such as Nokia, Huawei, and Ericsson on the development of cloud infrastructure in the country.
Saudi Arabia's regulatory policies—such as the CST's Cloud Computing Regulatory Framework (CCRF), the KSA Cloud First Policy by MCIT, and the National Cybersecurity Authority's Cloud Cybersecurity Controls (CCC)—are paving the way for widespread cloud adoption.
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