Saudi Arabia, GCC countries non-oil trade balance exceeds $1.6b

Dubai: Saudi Arabia experiences a substantial surplus in its non-oil trade balance with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, reaching $1.8 billion (Dh6.6 billion) in the second quarter of this year.

This figure reflects an annual growth of about 600 per cent compared to the $266 million (Dh976 million) surplus recorded in the same period of 2023, according to data the General Authority for Statistics' international trade report.

Total non-oil commodity exports, which include both national exports and re-exports, were $6.4 billion (Dh23.5 billion), marking a 31 per cent increase year-over-year.

This is an additional $1.5 billion (Dh5.5 billion) compared to the $4.9 billion (Dh18 billion) in exports from the second quarter of 2023.

Among GCC countries, the United Arab Emirates led with non-oil commodity exports valued at $3.9 billion (Dh14.3 billion), representing approximately 61.8 per cent of the total. Bahrain was in second place with exports totalling $1.5 billion (Dh5.5 billion), or 23.7 per cent of the total.