Xifres de comerç exterior d'Aràbia Saudita

Foreign Trade in Figures

Trade represents around 58% of Saudi Arabia’s GDP (World Bank, 2025). Saudi Arabia is the world's leading oil exporter: in 2025, crude oil accounted for 53.0% of total merchandise exports and refined petroleum products for 13.0%, followed by telephones (4.7%), polyethylene (3.1%), and petroleum gas (1.9%). Imports were led by motor cars (8.4%), telephones (6.8%), refined petroleum products (4.4%), and gold (3.9% - data Comtrade). According to the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), non-oil exports including re-exports rose by 18.9% in 2025 to SAR 366 billion (USD 97 billion), driven by a 64.4% jump in re-exports, while national non-oil exports were stable (-0.1%). Chemical products (22.5%) and machinery and electrical equipment (22.4%) were the main non-oil export categories, and the share of oil in total exports fell from 73.1% in 2024 to 68.7% in 2025.

In 2025, China was Saudi Arabia's top export destination, accounting for 14.6% of total exports, followed by the UAE (10.0%) and India (9.4%). Exports to the top 10 destinations, also including South Korea, Japan, the U.S., Egypt, Bahrain, Poland, and Malta, made up 66.8% of total exports. China was also the primary source of imports, representing 27.5% of the total, followed by the U.S. (8.2%) and the UAE (5.7%). Imports from the top 10 countries, also including India, Germany, Japan, Italy, France, Switzerland, and Egypt, accounted for 65.9% of total imports (data GASTAT). In order to promote international trade, attract foreign investment and diversify the non-oil sectors, the government announced plans to establish four “economic cities” in different regions of the country, providing a variety of advantages to companies that choose to locate their operations within their limits.

The country's trade balance, although structurally in surplus, fluctuates depending on the price of oil and global demand. In 2025, exports totalled USD 310.7 billion against USD 254.1 billion in imports. In the same year, the Kingdom exported USD 69.4 billion worth of services, importing USD 128.7 billion (WTO). In the fourth quarter of 2025, non-oil exports, including re-exports, rose by 18.6% year-on-year, while national non-oil exports (excluding re-exports) dropped by 1.5%. Re-exported goods saw a 67.4% increase. Merchandise exports grew by 7.9% on the back of a 3.5% increase in oil exports, with the share of oil exports falling from 70.4% in Q4 2024 to 67.5% in Q4 2025. Imports rose by 4.7%, leading to a 26.3% increase in the merchandise trade balance surplus (data GAS). The overall trade balance was estimated to be positive by 1.6% of GDP in 2025 by the World Bank (from 2.4% one year earlier). For the full year 2025, merchandise exports rose by 2.1% to SAR 1,170 billion, while imports increased by 8.8% to SAR 949.8 billion, narrowing the trade surplus by 19.2% to SAR 220.2 billion (GASTAT).