Wednesday, Oct 17, 2012
RIYADH (Zawya Dow Jones)--Saudi Arabia's non-oil exports fell to the lowest level in 12 months reaching 10.8 billion Saudi riyals ($2.9 billion) in August, down 22.7% from SAR13.9 billion ($3.7 billion) in the year earlier, data from the Central Department of Statistics and Information, or CDSI, showed.
Exports of plastic products ranked first, accounting for 40.31% of total non-oil exports, while petrochemical products were the second largest constituent accounting for 28.78%, followed by foodstuffs which accounted for 8.39%, the data showed.
The United Arab Emirates was the top importer of the kingdom's non-oil goods in August, accounting for 11.62% of the total, followed by China accounting for 8.63% and Singapore accounting for 8.33%.
The kingdom's imports meanwhile fell 5.9% on year to reach SAR38.4 billion in August compared with SAR40.8 billion a year earlier, according to the data.
Saudi's main imports were machinery and electrical equipment, transport equipment, metals and their related products, accounting for 27.31%, 17.58% and 15.80%, respectively, of total imports. Foodstuff made up 12.11% of the total.
The top exporters to the kingdom, the Arab world's largest economy, were China, the U.S. and Germany.
Write to Iman Dawoud at iman.dawoud@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
17-10-12 0912GMT
