Saudi trade balance in May recorded the highest surplus level since at least 2017 as oil sales grew and non-oil trade deficit was stable. Saudi total merchandise exports, including crude and refined oil, grew 83.4 percent to SR144.1 billion in May 2022, up from SR78.6 billion recorded in May 2021, according to revised data released today by the General Authority for Statistics. GASTAT data revealed that this increase originated mainly from oil exports, which rose by SR59.7 billion or 105.5 percent in the same period. The share of oil exports in total exports increased from 72 percent in May 2021 to 80.6 percent in May 2022. This comes as Saudi merchandise imports increased by 21.8 percent to SR53.9 billion in May 2022 compared to SR44.2 billion in May 2021. This helped Saudi achieve a trade surplus as the ratio of non-oil exports to imports increased by 51.8 percent in May from 49.8 percent in May 2021. Saudi Arabia’s non-oil exports, including re-exports, increased by 26.7 percent in May to SR27.9 billion ($7.42 billion), compared to SR22 billion recorded during the same period last year.
The growth in non-oil exports was driven by products of the chemical and allied industries which accounted for 35.3 percent of total non-oil merchandise exports, followed by plastics and rubber products. However, when compared on a month-on-month basis, the non-oil exports decreased by SR0.03 billion or 0.1 percent from April 2022. Saudi Imports also decreased by SR2.2 billion or 4 percent in May compared to April 2022. China remains the top importer of Saudia Arabia with SR19.2 billion, accounting for 13.3 of total exports, followed by India and Japan, which imported SR14.7 billion and SR12.5 billion worth of merchandise, respectively, in May.