Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia achieved its largest trade surplus in a year during January at SAR 24 billion, registering a 20.5% month-on-month increase, official data showed on Thursday.
However, the trade surplus declined by about 44.6% compared with its level in January 2020 but remained the highest achieved since February of 2020, according to data by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GaStat).
The trade balance data showed an increase in the kingdom’s international trade for the fourth consecutive month, reaching SAR 119.87 billion in January, its highest level in a year.
Saudi merchandise exports registered SA 71.9 billion in January, declining by 13.4% on an annual basis, while imports increased by 20.7% to SAR 47.9 billion.
The decrease in exports was mainly due to oil exports falling by 20.5%. Oil exports accounted for 73.7% of the total exports in January 2021, compared with 80.3% in January 2020.
On the other hand, non-oil exports increased by 15.6% year-on-year in January 2021, reaching SAR 18.9 billion. The increase was led by the rise in plastics and rubber exports by 24.5%, as they account for 32.4% of the total non-oil merchandise exports.
Furthermore, data showed that the ratio of non-oil exports to imports decreased to 39.4% in January 2021 from 41.1% in January 2020, because of a higher increase in imports by 20.7% than in non-oil exports by 15.6%.
In January, China was Saudi Arabia’s main trading partner, accounting for the biggest share of Saudi exports at SAR 14 billion, and the largest share of imports at SAR 9.6 billion. India and Japan followed as the main destinations for Saudi exports, then came South Korea, the UAE, the US, Egypt, Bahrain, Singapore, and Belgium.
Imports from the US came in second place with SAR 8 billion, followed by the UAE, India, Germany, Japan, France, the UK, Italy, and South Korea.
Jeddah Islamic Sea Port received SAR 16.2% or 33.7% of the total imports entering Saudi Arabia during January, followed by King Abdulaziz Port with 16.5%, King Khalid International Airport with 11.9%, Bat'ha with 6.6%, and Riyadh’s Dry Port with 6.2%. The five ports combined accounted for roughly 75% of the total Saudi merchandise imports.
