The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s overall merchandise exports increased 62.6% in December 2021 compared to December 2020, when many countries imposed travel bans and lockdowns as a result of COVID-19 issues. According to the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), exports amounted to SAR 106.3 billion in December 2021, up from SAR 65.3 billion in December 2020. It was mainly due to higher oil exports, which rose by SAR 30.6 billion, or 65.9%, during the same period.
The proportion of oil exports in total exports increased from 71.0% in December 2020 to 72.4% in December 2021. There was a decrease of SAR -1.7 billion or 1.6% in total merchandise exports compared to November 2021. According to the report, non-oil exports increased 54.5% year-on-year in December 2021, reaching SAR 29.3 billion from SAR 18.9 billion in December 2020. Non-oil exports rose 9.9% from November 2021 to November 2022.
The value of merchandise imports increased by 17.7% (SAR 8.0 billion) in December 2021. By comparison, the value of imports was SAR 53.5 billion in December 2021, compared to SAR 45.5 billion in December 2020. Furthermore, imports grew by SAR 2.9 billion or 5.8% over November 2021.