UAE remains top Saudi export destination

Saudi non-oil exports to the UAE, including re-exports, dropped to 14.81 per cent in the first quarter this year, down from 14.87 per cent the previous quarter, according to the initial data released by the General Authority for Statistics

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Issac John

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The UAE’s top trading partners list during Q1 2022 included China, India, Saudi Arabia, the US, Iraq, Switzerland, Turkey and Japan, with significant growth rates compared to the volume of trade exchange during Q1-21. — File photo
The UAE’s top trading partners list during Q1 2022 included China, India, Saudi Arabia, the US, Iraq, Switzerland, Turkey and Japan, with significant growth rates compared to the volume of trade exchange during Q1-21. — File photo

Published: Mon 30 May 2022, 4:43 PM

The UAE remains the leading destination for non-oil exports from Saudi Arabia in the first quarter despite a fall in Emirate’s share in the kingdom’s non-oil exports, according to data released by the General Authority for Statistics.

Saudi non-oil exports to the UAE, including re-exports, dropped to 14.81 per cent in the first quarter this year, down from 14.87 per cent the previous quarter, according to the initial data released by the General Authority for Statistics.


In the first quarter, the UAE retained the leading position for non-oil exports from Saudi Arabia followed by China and India.

The UAE’s non-oil foreign trade amounted to Dh527.5 billion by the end of Q1-2022. While exports grew around 18 per cent YoY to Dh91 billion by end of Q1-22, imports grew 25 per cent during Q1-22 to Dh292 billion, with re-exports hitting Dh144 billion, up 19 per cent on the corresponding period last year.


The UAE’s top trading partners list during Q1 2022 included China, India, Saudi Arabia, the US, Iraq, Switzerland, Turkey and Japan, with significant growth rates compared to the volume of trade exchange during Q1-21.

In the first quarter of 2022, Saudi Arabia exported non-oil goods worth SR11.52 billion ($3 billion) to the UAE, SR343 million less than in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The drop is partly due to a decline in transport equipment exports, which made up 27.54 percent of the UAE’s share of (Saudi) exports in the first quarter of this year. Exports in this goods group fell from SR4 billion in the last quarter of 2021 to SR3.17 billion in Q1 this year.

On the other hand, the Kingdom’s exports of machinery, optical goods, and pearls to the UAE increased by SR330 million, SR170 million, and SR99 million, respectively.

Non-oil Saudi exports to China reached 12.22 percent, dropping from 13.26 per cent in the previous quarter.

The Kingdom’s non-oil exports to China fell by SR1.1 billion to SR9.51 billion in the first quarter of 2022.

This drop is attributed mainly to a decline in the value of exports of chemical products to SR5 billion from SR5.87 billion in the last quarter. Exports of plastics and transport equipment also declined by a total of SR685 million. This decline, however, was partly offset by a $461 million increase in the value of base metals shipped to China in the first quarter of 2022.

— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com


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