RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s non-oil trade surplus with Gulf Cooperation Council countries fell 55 percent year on year to SR2.01 billion ($536 million) in May 2026, preliminary data from the General Authority for Statistics showed.
The decline was driven by a 24 percent drop in non-oil merchandise exports, including re-exports, to SR9.11 billion, which outpaced a 6 percent decline in imports to SR7.10 billion.
Total non-oil merchandise trade with the GCC consequently fell 17.2 percent to SR16.22 billion, according to calculations based on the data.
The UAE remained Saudi Arabia’s largest GCC trading partner, accounting for 73.4 percent of the Kingdom’s non-oil trade with the bloc.
Saudi non-oil exports to the UAE fell 27.7 percent to SR6.67 billion, while imports rose 3 percent to SR5.24 billion. As a result, Saudi Arabia’s trade surplus with the UAE plunged 65.5 percent to SR1.42 billion, from SR4.13 billion a year earlier.
