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

03:36 AM EDT, 09/24/2026 (MT Newswires) -- 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.