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Non-oil exports excluding re-exports fell 4.1% y-o-y in February 2024, according to the latest data from the General Authority for Statistics (pdf). Including re-exports — which increased in value by 32.3% y-o-y — total non-oil exports rose 4.4% during the month.
What are re-exports? These are products that one country imports and re-sells to another country as-is, without providing added value or labor input in the process. This can happen for various reasons, including taking advantage of price differences between markets, fulfilling orders, or redistributing goods to other markets where there is demand.
Our non-oil import bill is 3x the value of our non-oil exports: The ratio of non-oil exports — including re-exports — to imports fell to 34.6% in February 2024, down from 37.3% in February 2023, due to a significant 12.3% increase in imports.
China is Saudi’s biggest trade partner: Saudi exports to China accounted for 13.2% of total exports in February, followed by India at 10%, and Japan at 9%. Chinese products and services also accounted for the largest share of Saudi’s imports during the month (20%), followed by USA 8%, India 7%, and the UAE.
