Riyadh – Mubasher: Trade exchange between Saudi Arabia and the GCC increased by 15.9% year-on-year to SAR 68.4 billion ($18.24 billion) in the first nine months of 2018, from SAR 58.99 billion ($15.73 billion), Mubasher reported, citing data from the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).
The UAE acquired around 70.9% of Saudi-GCC trade exchange with SAR 48.5 billion from January to September, compared to SAR 37.08 billion in the year-ago period, the state-run statistic agency added.
Year-on-year, the kingdom’s non-oil merchandise exports to its GCC neighbours rose 2.3% to SAR 24.1 billion in the January-September period of 2018, compared to SAR 23.57 billion.
Saudi merchandise imports from the GCC jumped 25% to SAR 44.28 billion by the end of September, up from SAR 35.42 billion a year earlier.
Saudi Arabia posted a trade deficit with the GCC states of SAR 20.17 billion in the first nine months of this year, up 70.2% from SAR 11.85 billion in the same period last year.
