Saudi Arabia Balance of Trade

Last Release

Oct 31, 2024

Actual

20,769

Units In

Million SAR

18,682

Frequency

Quarterly

Next Release

Feb 21, 2025

Time to Release

1 Months 24 Days 6 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
454,159 Dec 2005	-3,651 Apr 2020	78,777.73 Million SAR	1968-2024	Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency

Saudi Arabia has been recording trade surpluses since 1968 due to shipments of oil (87 percent of total exports). Main imports are: machinery, mechanical appliances and electrical equipment; transport equipment and parts thereof and base metals. Main trading partners are: United States (14 percent of total exports and 12.6 percent of imports), China (12 percent of exports and 13 percent of imports) and Japan (13 percent of exports and 6 percent of imports). Others include: South Korea, United Arab Emirates, India and Germany.

Latest Updates

Saudi Arabia’s trade surplus narrowed to SAR 20.8 billion in October 2024 from SAR 29.1 billion in the corresponding month of the previous year, as exports fell much faster than imports. Exports declined by 10.7% year-on-year to SAR 92.8 billion, dragged by lower sales of oil products (-17.2%), which accounted for 72.6% of total exports. China remained the top destination for Saudi exports, making up 16.1% of the total, followed by India (9.5%) and Japan (9.4%). Meanwhile, imports dropped at a softer 3.8% to SAR 72 billion, as increased purchases of machinery, electrical equipment & parts (6.9%), which constituted 25.7% of total imports, partially offset a decline in transportation equipment & parts (-21.6%), which represented 15.3% of total imports. Among main suppliers, China also held the largest share of imports at 24.4%, followed by the US (7.9%), and the UAE (6%).