RIYADH: Saudi Arabia imported over 1 million vehicles in the 15 months to March, valued at over SR83 billion ($22 billion), making it one of the top 20 global markets.   

Data from the General Authority for Statistics reveals that these imports of new and used vehicles from 51 countries covered 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, the Saudi Press Agency reported.   

The Kingdom imported 568,500 cars from the US, China, Germany, Japan, and South Korea in 2022, according to data from Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority.   

This comes as improvements in procedures and regulations by relevant government entities have organized the industry, increased the market for both new and used cars, and led to annual vehicle sales exceeding 700,000, the report added.    

Faisal Abu Shousha, head of the national committee for automobile agents at the Council of Saudi Chambers, noted that the market for used vehicle imports accounts for less than 10 percent of the new vehicle market.   

This positions the Kingdom as one of the largest global vehicle markets, representing over half of car sales in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, SPA reported, citing Focus2Move, a US-based automotive market research firm.   

The report also highlighted that total vehicle sales in the Arab world exceeded 1.7 million units in 2022, with 36 percent of these sales occurring in Saudi Arabia, a 7.1 percent increase from the previous year.    

The UAE ranked second with 12.7 percent, followed by Egypt with 10.9 percent.

In May, SPA reported that Saudi Arabia’s car imports in 2023 hit 93,199, utilizing all modes of transportation — land, sea, and air — reflecting nearly a 40 percent growth from the previous year.   

In the last two years, the Kingdom has imported a total of over 160,000 cars, with 66,870 imports recorded in 2022 alone, according to Hamoud Al-Harbi, a spokesperson for the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority, SPA reported at the time.

According to the authority’s spokesperson at the time, cars were mainly imported from Japan, India, and South Korea, along with the US and Thailand.

Saudi Arabia’s automotive industry is experiencing significant growth, driven by government-led initiatives, a strategic geographical location, and ambitious plans to become a manufacturing hub.    

These factors are transforming the Kingdom into a pivotal player in the sector’s global market.