But... the reason why their PPP GDP is much better than their nominal GDP is exactly because they aren't actually that wealthy a nation, and so anything involv

But... the reason why their PPP GDP is much better than their nominal GDP is exactly because they aren't actually that wealthy a nation, and so anything involving human labor there is cheaper. If Saudi Arabia actually developed better (whether by finding new, exciting natural resources to export or by developing some kind of productive economic sector not based on natural resource expansion), their nominal GDP would grow but the difference between their nominal GDP and their PPP GDP would shrink. The point here is, Saudi Arabia is not particularly wealthy, and that, not their inequality, mostly explains their low standard of living. It is not the case, as the thread-starter implied, that Saudi Arabia has a high GDP but due to massive inequality it's all in the hands of the royal family.