Riyadh – Mubasher: Trade exchange between Saudi Arabia and member countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), namely the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman, decreased by 14% during the first quarter (Q1) of 2020.

Saudi-GCC trade exchange amounted to SAR 18.84 billion ($5.01 billion) in Q1-20, down from SAR 21.8 billion ($5.8 billion) in Q1-19.

The UAE dominated 65.3% of this volume with SAR 12.3 billion of bilateral trade with the kingdom, followed by Bahrain with 14% or SAR 2.63%.

Oman accounted for 10.86% of the trade exchange between GCC countries and Saudi Arabia while Kuwait’s share of the total stood at 9.9%.

As the largest trade partner to Saudi Arabia in the region, the UAE’s exports to the kingdom reached SAR 8.54 billion, down 10.23% year-on-year (YoY), while Saudi exports to the UAE decreased by 5.8% YoY to SAR 3.84 billion.

Saudi exports to Bahrain decreased by 2.44% to SAR 841 in Q1-20, while imports from Bahrain reached SAR 1.8%.