RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's trade surplus recorded an increase for the second month in a row, reaching SR44 billion ($11.66 billion) in September 2023, according to the latest figures released on Thursday by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). This marked an increase of 27.5 percent, compared to the surplus in August, when it reached SR34.31 billion, but it showed a decline of 31.5 percent on an annual basis. The report showed that there was a year-on-year decrease in overall merchandise exports by 17.1 percent reaching about SR103.8 billion, compared to about SR125.3 billion in September 2022. This decline was primarily attributed to a decrease in oil exports by SR17.2 billion (17.1 percent) with their value reaching SR83.1 billion (about $22.2 billion) compared to SR100.3 billion in September 2022. This drop was in alignment with the voluntary production cut that the Kingdom started enforcing in May this year within the framework of the decision of the OPEC+ countries with the aim of ensuring stability in global markets. According to the GASTAT report, the share of oil exports in the total exports portfolio posted a slight increase reaching 80.1 percent in September, compared to 80 percent in the same month in 2022. On a monthly basis, merchandise exports decreased by 0.1 percent, while non-oil exports, which include re-exports, decreased by 17.2 percent to SR20.7 billion in September 2023, compared to about SR25 billion in September 2022. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia's merchandise imports registered a decrease of 2.2 percent, or SR1.4 billion, reaching SR60.1 billion in September 2023, compared to SR61.5 billion a year ago. China remains the Kingdom's main partner in its merchandise trade. The value of exports to China reached SR19 billion or 18.3 percent of total exports in September, followed by Japan and South Korea. India, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, and Poland were among the top 10 countries to which exports were made, and the total of the Kingdom's exports to those countries amounted to SR69.7 billion, which represents 67.1 percent of the total exports. The value of imports from China was SR12.3 billion (20.5 percent of total imports) in September, making it the top country for the Kingdom's imports, followed by the United States and the UAE. India, Egypt, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, South Korea, and Italy were among the top 10 countries from where imports were made, and the total value of the Kingdom's imports from these countries amounted to SR37.4 billion, which represents 62.3 percent of total imports, according to the GASTAT report. Jeddah Islamic Port was the most important port through which goods entered the Kingdom with a value of SR14.5 billion, equivalent to 24.1 percent of total imports in September, followed by King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Ras Tanura Port, and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam. These five ports accounted for 67.8 percent of the Kingdom's total merchandise imports.
