RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s non-oil trade surplus with Gulf Cooperation Council countries fell 55 percent year on year to SR2.01 billion ($536 million) in May, preliminary data from the General Authority for Statistics showed.
The decline was driven by a 24 percent drop in non-oil merchandise exports, including re-exports, to SR9.11 billion, which outpaced a 6 percent decline in imports to SR7.10 billion.
Total non-oil merchandise trade with the GCC consequently fell 17.2 percent to SR16.22 billion, according to calculations based on the data.
The UAE remained Saudi Arabia’s largest GCC trading partner, accounting for 73.4 percent of the Kingdom’s non-oil trade with the bloc.
Saudi non-oil exports to the UAE fell 27.7 percent to SR6.67 billion, while imports rose 3 percent to SR5.24 billion. As a result, Saudi Arabia’s trade surplus with the UAE plunged 65.5 percent to SR1.42 billion, from SR4.13 billion a year earlier.
Saudi national exports to the UAE totaled SR1.35 billion, while re-exports reached SR5.32 billion.
Regional trade composition
Re-exports accounted for SR6.11 billion, or about 67 percent, of Saudi Arabia’s non-oil exports to GCC markets in May, while national exports stood at SR3 billion.
The GCC accounted for about 39.8 percent of the Kingdom’s total non-oil exports, including re-exports, during the month and supplied around 10.5 percent of its merchandise imports.
Mixed Gulf performance
Saudi Arabia’s trade with Kuwait totaled SR1.55 billion. Exports rose 36.1 percent to SR1.01 billion, but imports more than quadrupled to SR540.5 million, narrowing the Kingdom’s surplus by 24 percent to SR464.9 million.
Trade with Bahrain totaled SR1.22 billion. Saudi Arabia shifted from a surplus of SR155.2 million in May 2025 to a deficit of SR196 million this year, as exports fell 48 percent to SR514 million and imports declined 14.8 percent to SR710 million.
Saudi Arabia’s deficit with Oman narrowed 97.7 percent to SR20.9 million from SR914.4 million a year earlier, largely due to a 62.6 percent drop in imports to SR537 million. Exports edged down 1.3 percent to SR516.1 million, bringing total trade to SR1.05 billion.
Trade with Qatar totaled SR487.4 million and generated a Saudi surplus of SR338.5 million. Exports fell 25.6 percent to SR413 million, while imports were broadly unchanged at SR74.5 million, reducing the surplus by 29.5 percent.
Wider trade picture
Saudi Arabia’s overall merchandise trade surplus surged 328.8 percent year on year to SR26.03 billion in May, as total exports rose 3.9 percent to SR93.78 billion while imports fell 19.5 percent to SR67.75 billion.
Oil exports increased 19.5 percent and accounted for 75.6 percent of total exports, up from 65.7 percent a year earlier.
By contrast, non-oil exports, including re-exports, fell 26.1 percent, while the ratio of non-oil exports to imports declined to 33.8 percent from 36.8 percent.
National non-oil exports dropped 27.3 percent, while re-exports declined 24.4 percent, underscoring the contrasting performance of the Kingdom’s oil and non-oil trade.
