RIYADH: Bahrain has seen its exports trade drop below $1 billion, with the value of products of national origin falling by 8 percent to $941 million in January 2023, according to the latest data released by the Information &eGovernment Authority.
With $236 million worth of exports to Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom ranked first among the countries receiving products of Bahraini national origin in January, followed by the US and the UAE which imported goods worth $119 million and $95 million, respectively.
In terms of the type of goods, iGA data showed that unwrought aluminum alloys with a $352 million value were the top products exported during the month of January.
It was followed by iron ores and concentrate alloyed with a combined value of $127 million. The third product was aluminum wire not alloyed with $45 million worth of exports in January.
The total value of re-exports increased by 7 percent to reach $153 million during January 2023 compared with $143 million recorded during the same month of the previous year.
In terms of re-exported value, the UAE was the leading country with $50 million, followed by the Kingdom with $45 million, and Singapore with $7 million.
Airplane spare parts were the top re-exported products with $26 million, digital automatic data processing machines with $5.5 million and gold with $4.7 million.
The value of imports, however, increased by 4 percent reaching $1.2 billion during January 2023, compared to $1.1 billion for the same month of the previous year.
China ranked first when it comes to goods being imported into Bahrain, with a total of $185 million, the UAE was second with $116 million, and Brazil was third with $114 million.
Non-agglomerated iron ores and concentrates emerged as the top product imported into Bahrain with a total value of $143 million, while aluminum oxide was second with $82 million, and gold was third with $42 million.
This resulted in the trade balance of Bharain recording a deficit of $135 million during January, compared to a deficit of $21 million during the same month the previous year.
In October 2022, Saudi Arabia exported $31.9 billion worth of goods against an imported value of $16.4 billion, resulting in a positive trade balance of $15.5 billion, according to the data visualization site Observatory of Economic Complexity.
