RIYADH: Increased oil output has driven Saudi Industrial Production Index in January to increase by 11.1 percent on an annual basis, official data showed. 

The index, also known as IPI, saw the third-highest rise in the last three years, the Saudi general authority for statistics said on Thursday.

This positive performance was mainly due to a 11.4 percent rise in mining and quarrying sector, which includes oil production as well.

The Kingdom pumped at a level of over 10 million barrels per day in January.

The IPI in January recorded its 9th monthly increase in a row, the data from GaStat showed. 

The industrial output in Saudi Arabia had seen negative growth rates in 2019 and again in 2020 partly due to the impact of the pandemic.

Annual growth in manufacturing stood at 9.7 percent.

Electricity and gas supplies grew 15.7 percent, the highest rate of growth seen since January 2021, according to GaStat data.