That dollar amount reflects a-1.3% decrease since 2016 and a -29.9% drop from 2019 to 2020.
The top 3 product categories for Saudi Arabian exports (mineral fuels including oil, plastics including both materials and items made from plastic, and organic chemicals) represent about 90% of all Saudi shipments by value.
The latest data prorated from 2020 shows that almost two-thirds (64.8%) of products exported from Saudi Arabia were bought by importers in: China (17.6% of Saudi’s global total), United Arab Emirates (11.1%), India (6.8%), Singapore (6.2%), Turkey (3.9%), Egypt (3.5%), Kuwait (3.1%), Belgium (2.9%), Jordan (2.6%), Malaysia (2.6%), United States (2.5%) and Yemen (2%).
From a continental perspective, 73.2% worth of products exported from Saudi Arabia were bought by importers in Asia. In second place were customers in Africa at 10.6% ahead of Europe at 9.7%.
Smaller percentages arrived in North America (2.8%), Oceania (2.1%) led by Australia and Latin America (1.8%) excluding Mexico.
Given Saudi Arabia’s population of 34.8 million people, its total $176.5 billion in 2020 exports translates to roughly $5,100 for every resident in the Middle Eastern country.
Saudi Arabia’s Top 10 Exports
Top 10
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Saudi global shipments during 2020. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Saudi Arabia.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$132 billion (74.8% of total exports)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $16.3 billion (9.2%)
- Organic chemicals: $9.7 billion (5.5%)
- Inorganic chemicals: $2.3 billion (1.3%)
- Aluminum: $2.10 billion (1.2%)
- Gems, precious metals: $2 billion (1.1%)
- Fertilizers: $1.2 billion (0.7%)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: $1.1 billion (0.6%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $656.48 million (0.4%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $656.4 million (0.4%)
Saudi Arabia’s top 10 exports accounted for 95.2% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Propelled by higher international sales of gold, gems and precious metals was the fastest grower among the top 10 product categories thanks to a 185.6% year-over-year gain.
The only other product category to realize higher export sales was fertilizers, which was up by 10.2%.
br>The leading decliner among the top 10 Saudi Arabian export categories was mineral fuels including oil via a -26.2% decrease.
Advantages
Overall Saudi Arabia earned an estimated $45.2 billion surplus in 2020, down by -58% from $107.5 billion in black ink one year earlier.
The following types of Saudi product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$127.6 billion (Reversing a -$3.9 billion deficit in 2019)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $13 billion (Down by -17.2%)
- Organic chemicals: $7.9 billion (Down by -25.9%)
- Inorganic chemicals: $1.5 billion (Down by -1.3%)
- Fertilizers: $1.1 billion (Up by 10.9%)
- Aluminum: $445.2 million (Down by -40.8%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $396.5 million (Up by 85.3%)
- Gems, precious metals: $116.8 million (Reversing a -$2.9 billion deficit)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $69.7 million (Down by -25.8%)
- Lead: $45.4 million (Down by -17%)
Saudi Arabia has positive net exports in the international trade of petroleum, first and foremost crude oil but also refined petroleum oils and petroleum gases. In turn, these cashflows indicate Saudi Arabia’s strong competitive advantages under the mineral fuels including oil category.
Opportunities
Below are exports from Saudi Arabia that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Saudi Arabia’s goods trail Saudi importer spending on foreign products.
- Machinery including computers: -$15.1 billion (Down by -8.6% since 2019)
- Vehicles: -$14.1 billion (Down by -5.8%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$12.1 billion (Down by -11.6%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$5.2 billion (Up by 6.4%)
- Iron, steel: -$3.9 billion (Up by 12.4%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$3.7 billion (Down by -0.5%)
- Cereals: -$2.9 billion (Up by 2.7%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$2.7 billion (Down by -12.7%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting , signs, prefab buildings: -$2.3 billion (Down by -0.6%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: -$2.2 billion (Down by -19.6%)
Saudi Arabia has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for machinery including computers, air conditioning machines and turbo-jets.
Companies
Saudi Export Companies
Twenty Saudi corporations rank among Forbes Global 2000. The following companies are selected examples of leading companies headquartered in Saudi Arabia.
- Saudi Basic Industries (diversified chemicals)
- Saudi Arabian Fertilizers (specialized chemicals)
- Savola Group (food processing)
- Saudi Arabian Mining (diversified metals, mining)
- Petro Rabigh (diversified chemicals)
Wikipedia also lists exporters from Saudi Arabia. Selected examples are shown below.
- Saudi Aramco (oil, gas)
- Saudi Basic Industries (diversified chemicals)
- Saudi Arabian Fertilizers (specialized chemicals)
- Savola Group (food processing)
- Saudi Arabian Mining (diversified metals)
- Petro Rabigh (diversified chemicals)
- Almarai (food processing)
- Tasnee (petrochemicals)
According to global trade intelligence firm Zepol, the following firms represent smaller exporters from Saudi Arabia.
- Al Abeiry PVC Hose Factory (tubes/pipes/hoses, building/monument granite, furniture)
- Batook Chewing Gum Industries (turpentine oils, menthol, wines)
- Saudi Aramco Oil (petroleum)
- Saudi Basic Industries (acyclic hydrocarbons, polyethylene)
- Yamama Granite Marble (building/monument granite, wooden boxes/cases/crates)
In macroeconomic terms, Saudi Arabia’s total exported goods in 2020 represent 10.3% of its overall Gross Domestic Product ($1.706 trillion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 10.3% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2020 compares to 13.3% for 2019, Those metrics suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Saudi’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Saudi Arabia’s unemployment rate was 7.4% at January 2021 up from 6.1% one year earlier, according to Trading Economics.
Saudi Arabia’s capital city is Riyadh.
See also Saudi Arabia’s Top 10 Major Export Companies, Top Middle Eastern Export Countries and Saudi Arabia’s Top 10 Imports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Middle East: Saudi Arabia. Accessed on June 13, 2021
Forbes 2020 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 13, 2021
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on June 13, 2021
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 13, 2021
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 13, 2021
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on June 13, 2021
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Saudi Arabia. Accessed on June 13, 2021
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on June 13, 2021
Wikipedia, Saudi Arabia. Accessed on June 13, 2021
Zepol’s company summary highlights by country. Accessed on June 13, 2021
