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Saudi Arabia's total exports, including both oil and non-oil exports, fell 17% year-on-year (YoY) in October 2023 to 104 billion riyals ($27.7 billion) from SAR 126 billion, dragged by lower oil exports.
Oil exports fell by SAR 18.4 billion, or 18%, in the same period to SAR 82.3 billion, according to data issued by the General Authority for Statistics on Tuesday.
The share of oil exports in total exports fell from 79.7% in October 2022 to 78.9% in October 2023. However, compared to the previous month, oil exports edged higher by SAR 15 million.
Last week, a report said the kingdom's crude oil exports in October hit their highest level in four months. Crude exports rose 9.6% rose to 6.30 million barrels per day (bpd) from September, while the country's crude oil production fell slightly to 8.94 million bpd, according to data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI).
In November, Saudi Arabia, a key member of OPEC+, confirmed it would continue with its additional voluntary cut of 1 million bpd translating into a production of around 9 million bpd for December.
Meanwhile, according to the latest figures from the statistics authority, non-oil exports (including re-exports) decreased by 14% YoY to SAR 22 billion from SAR 25.6 billion in October 2022.
Total merchandise imports rose by 12% or SAR 7.6 billion in October to SAR 73.9 billion versus SAR 66.3 billion in October 2022, giving the country a positive trade balance of SAR 30 billion; down from SAR 41 million in the previous month.
(Writing by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
