Saudi Arabia's real gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter shrank 1.7% from a year earlier, preliminary government data showed on Sunday, as a decline in oil activities continued to weigh on overall growth.

The kingdom's GDP shrank 3.7% in the fourth quarter of 2023. The decline in the first quarter was the third consecutive quarter of year-on-year contraction in the kingdom, hurt by cuts to oil production and lower crude prices.

Oil activities were down 11.2% in the first quarter versus the previous year, estimates from the General Authority for Statistics showed, while non-oil GDP grew 3.4% year on year and government activities increased 2%.

(Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)