Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia has recorded a trade balance surplus of SAR 48.82 billion in September this year, according to official data on Wednesday.

The Kingdom’s trade volume, both imports and exports, amounted to SAR 140.5 billion last September, compared to SAR 95.37 billion in the same month in 2020.

Overall merchandise exports totalled SAR 94.66 billion in September 2021, higher by 77.4% than SAR 53.37 billion in the same month last year. The exports also increased compared to SAR 71.93 billion in January this year.

Non-oil exports also rose by 38.2% year-on-year (YoY) to SAR 25.3 billion in September 2021 from SAR 18.3 billion, according to the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GaStat).

Saudi Arabia’s overall merchandise imports meanwhile stood at SAR 45.84 billion at the end of September 2021, a rise of 9.2% compared to SAR 41.99 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier. Meanwhile, the imports were lower than SAR 47.93 billion at the beginning of the year in January.

China was the main trading partner for the Kingdom in September, with exports to the Asian country reaching SAR 15.9 billion, while the imports reached SAR 9.7 billion.

Saudi Arabia’s Trade Balance in Q3

During the three-month period from July to September 2021, Saudi Arabia’s trade balance recorded surplus worth SAR 131.28 billion, compared to SAR 37.54 billion in the third quarter (Q3) of 2020.

The overall merchandise exports stood at SAR 275.93 billion in Q3-21, a YoY surge of 71.8% from SAR 160.57 billion.

Non-oil exports from Saudi Arabia soared by 28.4% YoY to SAR 69.3 billion in Q3-21 from SAR 54 billion.

The country’s overall merchandise imports totalled SAR 144.64 billion in Q3-21, higher by 17.6% than SAR 123.03 billion in Q3-20.

China was also the main trading partner for Saudi Arabia during Q3-21, with exports and imports amounting to SAR 51.7 billion and SAR 30.9 billion, respectively.