(Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s economy grew by 9.6% in the first quarter of 2022, compared to a year earlier, according to flash government estimates on Sunday, as a recovery in the oil sector drove the strongest growth in more than a decade.

During the first quarter, oil activity in Saudi Arabia increased by 20.4% and non-oil activity by 3.7%, the estimates showed.

If the estimates are confirmed, they would mark the highest growth rate since 2011, the Saudi General Authority for Statistics said.

(Reporting by Moataz Mohamed,; Editing by Barbara Lewis)