Saudi exports fall by 25% in April on lower oil sales

Aramco

Saudi Arabia’s exports fell by 25.2 percent in the year to April, a state-owned statistical centre said.

Total exports were worth SAR103 billion ($27.46 billion) in April this year, from SAR137.7 billion in April 2022.

The decline was due to a fall in oil exports by 23.6 percent, the General Authority for Statistics data showed.

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However, the share of oil in total exports increased to 81.3 percent from 79.7 percent 12 months ago.

Non-oil exports, including re-exports, decreased by 31.2 percent year on year.

The kingdom’s exports to China reached SAR18 billion, or 17.5 percent of the total, making the Asian country its primary destination.

Japan and South Korea followed.

India, the US, the UAE, Poland, Bahrain, Taiwan and Singapore were ranked in the top 10 export destinations.

Imports increased by 1 percent in the same period to SAR57.9 billion.

China was the main origin with imports from the country worth 19.5 percent of the kingdom’s total.

The US and India followed.

Earlier this month the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that Saudi Arabia’s real GDP will slow to 2.1 percent in 2023 following Opec+ production cuts declared in April.

The IMF projected GDP growth at 3.1 percent last month after the Saudi economy grew strongly at 8.7 percent in 2022, as surging oil prices boosted revenue to drive the kingdom’s first budget surplus in almost a decade.