Saudi Arabia Posts a 14.4 Billion Riyal Surplus in July as National Non-Oil Exports Grow in August
Saudi Arabia recorded a merchandise trade surplus of 14.36 billion riyals in July, the General Authority for Statistics said on 24 September, and its flash estimate for August puts national non-oil exports 2.5 percent above a year earlier, on our calculation. From January to July, the cumulative surplus of 169.1 billion riyals is 40.8 percent larger than a year earlier, on our calculation.
Where July’s export change came from
July exports were 84.38 billion riyals, 17.2 percent lower than a year earlier, and imports were 70.02 billion riyals, down 15.4 percent. On our calculation, exports lost 17.49 billion riyals against July 2025. Oil accounted for 8.79 billion riyals of that fall, re-exports for 6.01 billion riyals and national non-oil exports for 2.69 billion riyals, or 50, 34 and 15 percent respectively, with the remainder down to rounding. Re-exports fell hardest in percentage terms, down 40.0 percent. Because the non-oil side shrank faster than oil, oil’s share of total exports rose to 71.0 percent from 67.4 percent.
| Item | July 2026 | July 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oil exports | 59,888.1 | 68,674.8 | -12.8% |
| National non-oil exports | 15,488.1 | 18,180.1 | -14.8% |
| Re-exports | 9,002.4 | 15,010.5 | -40.0% |
| Total exports | 84,378.6 | 101,865.4 | -17.2% |
| Imports | 70,015.3 | 82,719.4 | -15.4% |
| Trade balance | 14,363.3 | 19,146.0 | -25.0% |
Million riyals. Preliminary data from the General Authority for Statistics. Changes are as published.
Non-oil exports including re-exports covered 35.0 percent of imports in July, against 40.1 percent a year earlier, on our calculation.
A stronger seven months
The year to date is stronger. On our calculation, exports from January to July reached 689.1 billion riyals, up 3.7 percent from 664.2 billion riyals a year earlier. Imports fell 4.4 percent to 519.9 billion riyals over the same period. The cumulative surplus of 169.1 billion riyals is 40.8 percent larger than a year earlier. A third of it came from March alone, when the surplus reached 56.49 billion riyals.
August: national non-oil exports grow
The authority’s flash estimate for August covers non-oil trade only. National non-oil exports rose to 17.31 billion riyals, 2.5 percent above August 2025 and 11.8 percent above July, on our calculation. Re-exports kept falling, to 7.61 billion riyals, down 35.9 percent on the year on our calculation. Imports fell 14.9 percent to 67.10 billion riyals. Because imports fell faster than non-oil exports, non-oil exports including re-exports covered 37.1 percent of imports in August, against 36.5 percent a year earlier, on our calculation.
Why it matters: National non-oil exports give a cleaner gauge of non-oil goods produced in Saudi Arabia than re-exports, which pass through the kingdom. The August flash puts them 11.8 percent above July, on our calculation. On our reading, most of the softness in the non-oil total has come from re-exports.
Outlook: The full August bulletin, with oil exports, will show whether headline merchandise exports strengthened after July, with the flash already putting national non-oil exports above last year’s level.
Sources: General Authority for Statistics.
