Saudi Arabia records $20.09bln trade surplus in Q1 2020

By Staff Writer, Mubasher

Riyadh – Saudi Arabia’s trade balance surplus reached SAR 73.74 billion during the first quarter (Q1) of 2020, declining by 38.3% year-on-year (YoY) from SAR 119.54 billion in Q1-19.

On a quarterly basis, the trade surplus decreased by 32.5%, up from SAR 109.3 billion in Q4-19, as shown by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GaStat) latest figures.

Merchandise exports decreased by 20.7% YoY or SAR 51.518 billion to SAR 197.844 billion in Q1-20, with oil exports accounting for 77% of the total. Oil exports declined by 21.9% YoY, while non-oil exports decreased by 16.5%.

On the other hand, merchandise imports fell by 4.4% YoY or SAR 5.719 billion to SAR 124.1 billion in Q1-20.

The ratio of non-oil exports to imports decreased to 38.6% in Q1-20, down from 44.2% in Q1-19, according to GaStat.

China was the largest trade partner to the kingdom during Q1-20, with the highest exports of SAR 35 billion and the highest imports of SAR 20.87 billion.

On the list of export destination, China was followed by Japan and China with SAR 20.2 billion and SAR 19.57 billion, while on the list of importers, China was followed by the US and the UAE with SAR 14 billion and SAR 8.46 billion worth of imports to Saudi Arabia, respectively.

Source: Mubasher

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