Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s imports increased by 16% or around SAR 5.995 billion to SAR 43.201 billion in July from SAR 34.247 billion in the year-ago period.
The total value of imports surged 31.7% or by around SAR 10.409 billion in July compared to the previous month, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) said Thursday.
Breaking down imports, GASTAT said that imports of machinery and electrical equipment rose 19% year-on-year in July to SAR 10.651 billion from SAR 8.950 billion.
Meanwhile, imports of transport equipment and parts increased 8.5% to SAR 5.994 billion in July from SAR 5.523 billion in the same period of 2016.
Imports from China topped the Kingdom’s overall imports, registering SAR 7.556 billion in July up 27.4% from SAR 5.930 billion in July 2016, data by GASTAT showed.
The United States came in second with SAR 5.048 billion in exports to Saudi Arabia, up 10.3% year-on-year from SAR 4.577 billion.
The UAE came in third with SAR 2.739 billion in exports to Saudi Arabia, registering a 47.3% year-on-year surge from SAR 1.860 billion in July 2016.
On another note, GASTAT said that the value of Saudi exports increased 11% or by around SAR 6.342 billion to SAR 63.9 billion in July 2017, compared to SAR 57.559 billion in the same period in 2016.
