Saudi-GCC trade grows by 13% in Q4

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RIYADH — The General Authority for Statistics has published a preliminary report on international trade for Q4 2023, revealing a 13% increase in the volume of trade exchange between the Kingdom and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries compared to the same period the previous year.

The trade value escalated by about SR6.36 trillion, reaching SR55.58 trillion in Q4 2023, up from SR49.22 trillion in Q4 2022.

Saudi Arabia's trade balance with the GCC nations recorded a surplus of approximately SR13.03 trillion. The total exports to the GCC countries stood at roughly SR34.31 trillion in Q4 2023, constituting about 11.5% of the Kingdom's total exports to all countries, which amounted to approximately SR297.90 trillion. Meanwhile, total imports from the GCC were about SR21.27 trillion, making up roughly 10.6% of the Kingdom’s total imports from all countries, which totaled about SR201.41 trillion.

Notably, national non-oil exports, including re-exports, reached approximately SR20.79 trillion, marking an annual growth of 42% and an increase in value of SR6.13 trillion compared to SR14.66 trillion in Q4 2022.

The breakdown of Saudi non-oil trade data with the GCC countries shows the UAE as the top trading partner with a value of SR13.99 trillion, accounting for about 67.3% of Saudi Arabia's total non-oil exports, including re-exports to the GCC. Bahrain followed with SR2.30 trillion, representing 11.04% of the total. Kuwait was third with SR1.82 trillion (8.8%), Qatar fourth with SR1.45 trillion (7%), and Oman fifth with SR1.23 trillion, representing 6% of the total non-oil exports and re-exports to the GCC countries.