Saudi Arabia Balance of Trade

Last Release

Aug 31, 2024

Actual

27,994

Units In

Million SAR

19,290

Frequency

Quarterly

Next Release

Nov 24, 2024

Time to Release

29 Days 5 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
454,159 Dec 2005	-3,651 Apr 2020	79,460.41 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 28 billion in August 2024, down from SAR 35.4 billion in the same month of the previous year. Year-on-year, exports dropped by 9.8% to SAR 92.8 billion, weighed by lower sales of oil products (-15.5%), accounting for 70.3% of total exports. Meanwhile, non-oil exports rose by 7.5%, primarily driven by increased sales of chemical products (9.3%) and plastics, rubbers & their products (1%). As for the major destinations, China held the highest share of exports at 16%, followed by South Korea (9.6%), and India (9.5%). Meanwhile, imports fell at a softer rate of 3.9% from a year earlier to SAR 64.8 billion, due mainly to reduced purchases of machinery, electrical equipment and parts (-5.6%) and transportation equipment & parts (-11.7%). Among main suppliers, China also held the largest share in shipments, constituting 22.2%, followed by the US (9.6%) and India (6.2%).