Saudi Arabia’s trade balance recorded a surplus of 97 billion riyals during Q4

Saudi Arabia recorded a trade balance surplus for the fourth quarter of about 97 billion riyals, as merchandise exports amounted to 298 billion riyals, and the volume of merchandise imports amounted to 201 billion riyals, while the balance surplus for the same period last year amounted to 152 billion riyals, as merchandise exports for the fourth quarter of the year amounted to 152 billion riyals. The past amounted to 348 billion riyals, while merchandise imports amounted to 196 billion riyals, according to data issued by the General Authority for Statistics.

The decrease in merchandise exports in the fourth quarter of 2023 by 14.4% compared to the same quarter in 2022 is due to a decrease in petroleum exports by about 49.2 billion riyals, by 17.8%, as their value reached 226.8 billion riyals, compared to 276.0 billion riyals in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The proportion of petroleum exports out of total exports decreased from 79.3% in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 76.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023. The value of merchandise exports also decreased by 0.8% compared to the third quarter of 2023 by 2.4 billion riyals.

Non-oil exports, which include re-exports, recorded a decrease of 1.2% from the fourth quarter of 2022, recording 71.1 billion riyals, compared to 71.9 billion riyals. Non-oil exports (excluding re-exports) decreased by 9.2%, while the value of re-exported goods increased by 42.1% in the same period.

The value of non-oil exports (including re-exports) also increased by 1.9 billion riyals, or by 2.7%, compared to the third quarter of 2023.

On the other hand, the Kingdom’s exports to China amounted to 50.2 billion riyals in the fourth quarter of 2023, which represents 16.9% of total exports, making Beijing the main destination for Saudi exports. Followed by Japan, with a value of 33.6 billion riyals, representing 11.3%, then India, with a value of 29.1 billion riyals, representing 9.8%.

While the value of imports from China reaches 44.3 billion riyals, which represents 22%, which makes it rank first for the Kingdom’s imports, followed by the United States with a value of 19.3 billion riyals (9.6%), then the UAE with a value of 14.4 billion (7.1%) of the total imports.