Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi merchandise imports have decreased by SAR 4.2 billion or 10% year-on-year in March to SAR 37.3 billion ($9.94 billion) from SAR 41.5 billion ($11.06 billion), data released by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) showed on Thursday.
On a monthly basis, imports fell by about 3.7% or SAR 1.4 billion.
Saudi imports of machinery, mechanical appliances, and electrical equipment reached SAR 8.5 billion in March, down from SAR 9.4 billion during the same month in 2017.
The GASTAT's report further noted that the aforementioned import categories represented 23% of total imports, registering a 9.1% decrease from March 2017.
Vehicles and associated transport equipment imports retreated 20.4% to SAR 5.1 billion during March, from SAR 6.4 billion in the same month the year before.
China came first in countries exporting products to Saudi Arabia with SAR 5.4 billion in March, up 10.3% year-on-year from SAR 4.98 billion, while the US ranked second with a 26.5% year-on-year decline to SAR 4.3 billion during March compared to SAR 5.8 billion.
The UAE ranked third with SAR 3.4 billion, while Japan came in fourth with SAR 2 billion, and Germany ranked fifth with SAR 1.99 billion worth of imports to the Saudi Kingdom.
