Saudi Arabia’s merchandise exports fell 11.5% from a year earlier to SR87.24 billion in August 2026, pulled down by lower oil shipments, according to data from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) released on Monday.
Exports totaled SR98.58 billion in August 2025.
Oil exports dropped 12.5% to SR61.08 billion from SR69.82 billion a year earlier, according to figures from the monthly report cited by Mubasher.
Oil’s share of total merchandise exports slipped to 70% from 70.8% in August 2025, GASTAT said.
National non-oil exports, which exclude re-exports, rose 8.5% to SR18.32 billion from SR16.88 billion.
Re-exported goods fell 34% to SR7.84 billion. Re-exports of machinery, electrical equipment and parts, which made up 31.7% of the total, dropped 63.6%.
Including re-exports, non-oil exports fell 9.1%.
Plastics, rubber and their products were the largest non-oil export category, with a 22.6% share after rising 7.5%. Chemical products ranked second with a 20.9% share, despite a 17.7% decline.
Merchandise imports fell 9.1% to SR71.64 billion from SR78.84 billion. Machinery, electrical equipment and parts accounted for 26.2% of imports after falling 19.8%.
The merchandise trade surplus narrowed 21% to SR15.6 billion from SR19.74 billion a year earlier.
The ratio of non-oil exports, including re-exports, to imports edged up to 36.51% from 36.48%.
The United Arab Emirates was the largest destination for Saudi merchandise exports, with an 11.4% share, followed by South Korea at 11.2% and India at 8.4%, Saudi Gazette reported. The top 10 destinations took 64.5% of exports.
China was the biggest source of imports at 21.9%, followed by the United States at 8.4% and Egypt at 5.8%.
Jeddah Islamic Port handled 46.7% of merchandise imports and ranked first for non-oil exports, with a 27.5% share.
GASTAT said the data is based on administrative records from the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority and the Ministry of Energy, and that 2026 figures are preliminary.
