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Saudi Arabia's Trade Surplus Shrinks in July as Exports, Imports Decline

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Saudi Arabia's Trade Surplus Shrinks in July as Exports, Imports Decline

Saudi Arabia's merchandise trade surplus fell in July as export and import volumes dropped, data from the General Authority for Statistics showed Thursday.

The surplus fell by 25% to 14.36 billion Saudi riyals versus the previous year and was down from June's revised amount of 16.63 billion riyals.

Merchandise exports decreased 17.2% year over year to 84.38 billion riyals, with a 12.8% decline in oil sales, a 26.2% drop in non-oil exports including re-exports, and a 14.8% decrease in national non-oil exports excluding re-exports. Oil's share of total exports rose to 71% from 67.4% a year earlier.

Plastic, rubber, and related articles accounted for 19.8% of non-oil exports, though shipments of the product category fell by 17.8% compared with the prior year.

China was the largest buyer of the kingdom's goods for the month, taking 13.4% of overall exports, followed by the United Arab Emirates at 10% and Japan at 8.7%.

Meanwhile, merchandise imports fell 15.4% to 70.02 billion riyals on an annual basis. Machinery, electrical equipment and parts were Saudi Arabia's top import, at 25.7% of the total, and were down 26.6% year on year.

China was also the country's primary source of imports, providing 22.7% of all goods, with the US and Switzerland accounting for 8.4% and 6.9%, respectively.

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