Saudi Arabia’s overall merchandise exports increased by 62.6 percent in December 2021 compared to the year-ago period, according to the International Trade Report for December 2021 issued by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).
A report in the official Saudi Press Agency said international trade in December 2020 was impacted by Covid-related lockdowns and travel bans in numerous countries.
The GASTAT data said the value of exports amounted to SAR106.3 billion ($28.35 billion) in December 2021, up from SAR65.3 billion ($17.41 billion) in December 2020.
This increase originated mainly from oil exports, which rose by SAR30.6 billion ($8.16 billion) or 65.9 percent in the same period.
The share of oil exports in total exports increased from 71.0 percent in December 2020 to 72.4 percent in December 2021.
Compared to November 2021, total merchandise exports decreased by SAR1.7 billion ($453.33 million) or 1.6 percent.
The report revealed that the non-oil exports increased by 54.5 percent year-on-year in December 2021, rising to SAR29.3 billion ($7.81 billion) from SAR18.9 billion ($5.04 billion) in December 2020.
Non-oil exports increased compared to November 2021 by SAR2.6 billion ($693.33 billion) or 9.9 percent.
Merchandise imports increased by 17.7 percent — SAR8 billion ($2.13 billion) — in December 2021.
The value of imports amounted to SAR53.5 billion ($933.33 million) in December 2021 compared to SAR45.5 billion ($12.13 billion) in December 2020.
Imports also increased compared to November 2021 by SAR2.9 billion ($773.33 billion) or 5.8 percent.