Saudi Arabia's economy shrank by 7 per cent in the second quarter, a sign of how deeply the new coronavirus hit both the oil and non-oil sectors, while unemployment hit a record high of 15.4pc, official data showed.

“The private sector and the government sector recorded a negative growth rate of 10.1pc and 3.5pc, respectively,” said the General Authority for Statistics.

The Saudi unemployment rate was “largely impacted by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Saudi economy,” it said.

In the first quarter, Saudi Arabia posted a 1pc economic contraction, but that only captured part of the oil price collapse and the impact of the pandemic, which escalated in March, according to Reuters.