By: Economy Middle east

Saudi Arabia’s trade balance recorded a surplus of SAR22.3 billion ($5.9 billion) during November 2025, achieving an annual growth rate of 70.2 percent. This records an increase of SAR9.2 billion compared to the same period in 2024, when the surplus reached SAR13.1 billion, according to the data from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) in its international trade bulletin for November. Additionally, the data showed that the trade balance grew by 5.2 percent month-on-month, amounting to SAR1.1 billion, compared to October of the same year when the surplus reached approximately SAR21.3 billion.

The Kingdom’s total international trade volume during November reached approximately SAR177.1 billion, with a break up of merchandise exports valued at SAR99.7 billion and imports at SAR77.4 billion. Petroleum exports reached a value of over SAR67 billion, representing 67.2 percent of total merchandise exports, reflecting an annual growth rate of 5.4 percent, or more than SAR3 billion, compared to SAR63.6 billion during the same period last year. Meanwhile, non-oil national exports recorded approximately SAR18.9 billion, constituting 19 percent of total merchandise exports, achieving annual growth of 4.7 percent, an increase of SAR851 million, compared to SAR18.1 billion during the same period in 2024.

Trading partners and re-exports

Re-exports also saw a significant increase, reaching SAR13.7 billion, a year-on-year growth rate of 53.1 percent, representing 13.8 percent of total merchandise exports, compared to SAR8.9 billion during the same period last year. Regarding trading partners, Asian countries topped the list of importers from the Kingdom, accounting for 75.2 percent of imports, valued at SAR74.9 billion. Asian countries were followed by European countries with 9.7 percent (SAR9.7 billion), and then American countries with 7.5 percent (SAR7.5 billion), while China maintained its position as the leading importer of Saudi exports, representing 13.5 percent (SAR13.5 billion).

Customs and port activity

As for non-oil exports, including re-exports, these passed through 31 land, sea, and air customs ports, with a total value of SAR32.7 billion. King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah emerged topper with SAR5.6 billion, followed by Jeddah Islamic Port with SAR3.6 billion, the GASTAT data pointed out. This distributed activity across various ports underscores the logistical breadth of the Kingdom’s expanding trade infrastructure.

The trade surplus for November 2025 reached its highest growth rate since August 2022. This positive momentum has continued into early 2026, with Saudi oil sales to China surging for March loadings to an estimated 56–57 million barrels—the highest level since October 2022—after Saudi Aramco slashed its official selling prices to Asia to their lowest level since late 2020. India is also expected to increase its intake of Saudi crude in March as it seeks alternatives to Russian supplies following recent diplomatic trade discussions.