RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s trade surplus surged 218.9 percent year on year to SR57 billion ($15.2 billion) in March, marking its sharpest annual increase in nearly five years as oil exports jumped and imports declined sharply.
Figures released by the General Authority for Statistics showed merchandise exports rose 21.5 percent annually across the month, driven by a 37.4 percent increase in oil exports.
Oil shipments accounted for 80.3 percent of total exports, up from 71 percent a year earlier, while total imports fell 24.8 percent during the period, helping widen the Kingdom’s trade surplus.
Saudi Arabia is aiming for the non-oil sector to account for 50 percent of Saudi Arabia’s total exports by 2030, as part of the the Kingdom’s economic diversification drive.
The newly released report said: “‘Machinery, electrical equipment and parts’ were among the most important non-oil export commodities, accounting for 27.4 percent of the total
non-oil exports and increased by 46.2 percent compared with March 2025.
“This was followed by ‘chemical products’, which represented 20.1 percent of total non-oil exports and decreased by 39.1 percent compared with March 2025.”
The data showed that the most important imported commodities were “machinery, electrical equipment and parts”, which accounted for 30.4 percent of total imports, although it had decreased by 11.9 percent compared with March 2025.
“Chemical products and allied industries” followed, comprising 9.9 percent of total imports despite seeing an annual fall of 18.5 percent.
The data further showed that the ratio of non-oil exports, including re-exports, to imports increased in March, reaching 39.3 percent compared with 35.8 percent in the same month a year earlier. This was driven by a 17.3 percent decline in non-oil exports, coupled with a 24.8 percent decrease in imports over the same period.
“China is the main destination for Saudi Arabia’s merchandise exports, accounting for 14.1 percent of total exports in March 2026, followed by India at 13.7 percent and Japan at 9.5 percent,” the GASTAT report stated.
It added that South Korea, the UAE, and Malta, were also among the top 10 export destinations, along with Egypt, Singapore, Myanmar, and Poland.
Total exports to these ten countries representing 69.8 percent of the Kingdom’s overall exports.”
On the imports side, China ranked first as the Kingdom’s merchandise source, accounting for 26.7 percent of total imports in March, followed by the US at 8.4 percent and the UAE at 7.1 percent.
“Switzerland, Egypt, Germany, and France, as well as India, Italy, and Japan, were also among the top 10 import sources, with total imports from these 10 countries representing 68.4 percent of Saudi Arabia’s overall imports,” it added.
Jeddah Islamic Seaport handled the largest share of imports into the Kingdom during March, accounting for 29.8 percent of the total, while King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah was the leading gateway for non-oil exports, accounting for 23.4 percent.
