Saudi Arabia’s oil exports increased in value by over 11% in December to $23 billion

• According to the most recent information made available by the General Administration for Statistics, the value of Saudi Arabia’s oil exports for December 2022 increased 11.1 percent year over year to SR85.5 billion ($22.80 billion).

According to the GASTAT data, oil shipments climbed from 71.9 percent of all exports in December 2021 to 79 percent in December 2022.

The study also stated that as compared to the same month in 2021, the Kingdom’s total merchandise exports increased by 1.1 percent in December 2022.

Exports increased from SR107 billion in December 2021 to SR108.2 billion in December 2022.

Yet compared to November 2022, Saudi Arabia’s total exports of goods fell by SR4.6 billion, or 4.0 percent, the study said.

The GASTAT data also noted that Saudi Arabia’s non-oil exports, including re-exports, dropped from SR30.1 billion in the same time in 2021 to SR22.7 billion in December 2022, a decline of 24.4 percent.

Non-oil exports, including reexports, fell by SR40 million (0.2%) or more in December 2022 compared to November 2022.

The study states that compared to the same period last year, Saudi Arabia’s merchandise imports rose by 16.9% to SR62.2 billion, or SR53.2 billion.

However, in December 2022, merchandise imports fell by SR2.4 billion, or 3.7%, month over month.

Machinery, mechanical appliances, and electrical equipment parts made up the majority of all imported goods in December 2022, according to the GASTAT report, accounting for 22.6 percent of all imports of goods.

China was Saudi Arabia’s top export market in December 2022, with exports to the Asian behemoth accounting for SR16.2 billion (15 percent of total exports).

Japan and India came in second and third, respectively, with SR12.6 billion and SR11.3 billion of the total exports going to China.

Regarding imports into Saudi Arabia, China likewise led with SR13.7 billion in imports, accounting for 21% of the total during that time. The US and the UAE were next with SR6.4 billion and SR4.4 billion in imports, respectively.