Sustainability outlook

This inaugural sustainability outlook for Saudi Arabia provides an overview of the sustainability reporting and assurance landscape among listed companies in the Kingdom. It highlights emerging trends and the themes shaping how organizations are reporting on sustainability and enhancing the credibility of disclosed information.

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 aligns closely with these global shifts, embedding sustainability at the heart of the Kingdom’s economic transformation. As the Saudi capital market continues to evolve, sustainability considerations are becoming integral to how organizations communicate performance, manage risk, and demonstrate long-term resilience to investors and wider stakeholders.

This publication offers a market-based perspective on how sustainability reporting and assurance practices are evolving in Saudi Arabia, helping stakeholders understand current practices, emerging expectations, and the direction of travel for the next phase of market development.

Sustainability assurance in Saudi Arabia is moving from early adoption to a more mature phase – marked by stable uptake, stronger data processes, and expanding scope. Aligned with international standards, this reflects growing data maturity and more credible sustainability reporting.

Muhammad Saad Hasheem

Partner, ESG Assurance Leader

KPMG Middle East

Sustainability reporting outlook

Although ESG reporting remains voluntary, guiding document issued by CMA and Tadawul are accelerating alignment with global reporting practices ESG disclosures increased significantly in 2024, driven by investor expectations and growing focus on ESG ratings. Companies are aligning with Vision 2030, anticipating future regulations, and recognizing ESG as a key driver of competitiveness and reputation in a transforming economy. In 2024, around 30 percent of the total listed companies in Saudi Arabia published sustainability information, compared with around 20% in 2023. This 10 percent rise indicates a clear upward shift in market commitment to sustainability reporting.

Sustainability assurance outlook

Assurance uptake among Tadawul’s main market listed companies remained stable in 2024, with 13 companies obtaining ESG assurance in both 2023 and 2024. This reflects a consolidation phase, as organizations focused on strengthening data collection processes and refining sustainability reporting frameworks following their initial assurance cycles. At the same time, assurance activity is expanding beyond the main market. Nomu market, unlisted, and public sector-related entities including subsidiaries of PIF, are increasingly preparing sustainability reports and seeking independent assurance. Importantly, among companies already obtaining assurance, the scope and depth of assured disclosures continued to expand in 2024.