GCC countries’ merchandise foreign trade volume reaches $1.6tn: GCC Stat

RIYADH: Gulf Cooperation Council countries’ merchandise foreign trade volume, excluding trade among themselves, increased by 7.4 percent in 2024 to reach $1.6 trillion, according to the GCC Statistical Center.

This compares to $1.5 trillion in 2023 and marks the highest level recorded in its history during the period from 2017 to 2024.

The data, which the Center compiles regularly in cooperation with national statistical centers and agencies in the member states, showed that the total value of merchandise exports reached about $850 billion in 2024, compared to roughly $821 billion in 2023, an increase of about 3.4 percent.

The Center indicated that this growth is attributed to a 22.5 percent rise in non-oil exports and a 1.4 percent increase in re-exports, while exports of oil and natural gas declined by 1.8 percent.

Conversely, merchandise imports recorded a notable increase, reaching approximately $740 billion in 2024, compared to about $659 billion the previous year, a growth of 12.3 percent.

GCC countries’ merchandise foreign trade volume reaches $1.6tn: GCC Stat

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