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The Saudi Arabia's annual economic growth rose to 2.7 percent in the second quarter after a weaker six months as non-oil expansion remained robust while a decline in the oil sector eased, government data showed. The world's top oil exporter had seen its gross domestic product growth rates decelerate sharply in the previous two quarters to as low as 2.1 percent in January-March, the weakest level since at least 2010, as crude sector output dropped. However, the OPEC member's real GDP rose 5.5 percent in April-June 2012 and 5.2 percent in the whole of last year. Growth in the biggest Arab economy is closely linked to energy prices and crude oil output, as well as to government spending which has been rising sharply over the past decade. Output of the oil sector, accounts for nearly half of the $711 billion economy. Saudi oil exports averaged 9.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of 2013.