Oman’s trade surplus hits $7.79bln in 5 months

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Muscat – Oman recorded a trade surplus of RO2.989bn in the first five months of 2024, marginally up from RO2.986bn during the same period last year, according to the latest data from National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The total value of Oman’s exports increased 5% to RO9.689bn between January and May 2024, compared to RO9.224bn during the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, the sultanate’s total imports rose 7.4% to RO6.7bn this year, up from RO6.238bn in the corresponding period of last year.

The rise in the value of exports is primarily driven by growth in Oman’s oil and gas exports, which increased 1.8% to RO5.937bn in the first five months of 2024, compared to RO5.833bn during the same period last year.

Breaking down the oil and gas exports, crude oil exports amounted to RO4.297bn, marking a 7.6% increase year-on-year. In contrast, the value of refined oil exports fell 8.7% to RO579mn, and liquefied natural gas exports dropped 12% to RO1.61bn.

The NCSI data also showed an increase of 11.2% in non-oil exports to RO3.045bn in the first five months of 2024 from RO2.737bn during the same period in 2023. Additionally, re-exports from Oman grew 8.1% year-on-year, totalling RO707mn.

Minerals were of the highest value among non-oil exports, amounting to RO1.101bn, up 23.1% from the same period in 2023, followed by base metals and their articles – 8.9% increase to RO560mn. Chemical products were third among non-oil exports with an export value of RO435mn, a decrease of 7%.

The UAE emerged as the largest market for Oman’s non-oil exports and re-exports in 2024. Non-oil exports to the UAE rose 15.1% year-on-year to RO395mn during the January–May period, while re-exports to the UAE reached RO244mn. Oman’s imports from the UAE during the same period amounted to RO582mn.