Riyadh, March 05, 2024, The General Authority for Statistics has released a preliminary report on international trade for the fourth quarter (Q4), revealing a notable increase in the volume of trade between Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The trade volume grew by an estimated 13% compared to the same period the previous year, reaching SAR 55.583 billion in Q4 2023, up from SAR 49.219 billion in Q4 2022.
The Kingdom's trade balance with the GCC countries recorded a surplus of approximately SAR 13.035 billion in Q4 2023. Total exports amounted to about SAR 34.309 billion during this period, representing around 11.5% of Saudi Arabia's total exports to all countries, which amounted to SAR 297.902 billion. Total imports from GCC countries were approximately SAR 21.274 billion, constituting approximately 10.6% of the Kingdom's overall imports from all countries, totaling SAR 201.407 billion.
National non-oil exports, including re-exports, amounted to approximately SAR 20.785 billion, achieving an impressive annual growth rate of 42%. This represents an increased value of SAR 6.129 billion compared to SAR 14.656 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The data on Saudi non-oil trade with the GCC countries indicates that the UAE held the highest value of SAR 13.990 billion, comprising about 67.3% of Saudi Arabia's total non-oil exports, including re-exports, to the GCC countries. Bahrain ranked second with a value of SAR 2.295 billion, representing 11.04% of the total. Kuwait followed in third place with a value of SAR 1.819 billion (8.8% of the total), Qatar in fourth place with SAR 1.447 billion (7% of the total), and Oman in fifth place with SAR 1.234 billion (6% of the total).
