Riyadh - Saudi Arabia's non-oil trade balance with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries recorded a significant surplus during the second quarter of 2024, reaching SAR 6.776 billion.

This represents a remarkable annual growth of approximately 600% compared to the same period in 2023, when the surplus stood at SAR 1.033 billion, according to preliminary data from the General Authority for Statistics' international trade report.

Total non-oil commodity exports, including both national exports and re-exports, amounted to SAR 24.392 billion, reflecting an annual growth of 31%.

This marks an increase of SAR 5.765 billion compared to the second quarter of 2023, which recorded SAR 18.627 billion in exports. Meanwhile, total commodity imports for the same period amounted to SAR 17.616 billion.

Breaking down the non-oil commodity exports, including re-exports, among GCC countries, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) led with exports valued at SAR 15.070 billion, accounting for approximately 61.8% of the total. Bahrain followed in second place with SAR 5.792 billion, representing 23.7% of the total. Kuwait ranked third with SAR 1.823 billion, making up 7.5% of the total.

Oman came in fourth with SAR 965 million, accounting for 4%, and Qatar was fifth with SAR 741 million, representing 3% of the total.