Saudi Arabia’s Trade Surplus Declines – Statistics Office
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recorded a merchandise trade surplus of 19.29 billion riyals or SAR in July, down from the revised 19.64 billion riyals in June, the General Authority for Statistics said Wednesday.
Data showed that the country’s merchandise exports grew 2% year over year to 94.52 billion riyals, while merchandise imports rose 12.6% to 75.23 billion riyals.
Year-on-year, imports surged 12.6% to SAR 75.2 billion, driven by increased purchases of machinery, electrical equipment and parts (34.2%), and transportation equipment and parts (3.3%).
Among the main suppliers, China held the largest share of imports at 25.4%, followed by the US (7.2%) and Germany (5.1%).
Meanwhile, exports rose by a softer 2%, as lower sales of oil products (-3.1%) partially offset the sales growth from non-oil products (19%).
Oil exports accounted for 73.1% of total exports. As for the major destinations, China also accounted for the highest share of exports at 13.9%, followed by South Korea (10.3%) and Japan (9.9%).
Considering January to July, the trade surplus fell to SAR 193.4 billion from SAR 251.1 billion in the corresponding period last year. # Saudi Arabia’s Trade Surplus Declines – Statistics Office
