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Non-oil exports rose, but re-exports did the heavy lifting: The Kingdom’s non-oil exports increased 18.9% y-o-y in 2025, according to data (pdf) from the General Authority for Statistics. But the growth came almost entirely from re-exports, which jumped 64.4% y-o-y, while domestic non-oil exports were essentially flat, slipping 0.1%.
Machinery and electrical equipment were the main drivers, accounting for 50.1% of all re-exports after nearly doubling during the year.
The takeaway: The numbers point to a logistics story more than a manufacturing one. Re-exports grew much faster than domestically produced exports, suggesting Saudi’s logistics and trade infrastructure is maturing faster than its export manufacturing base.
Oil still dominates, but its share is shrinking: Merchandise exports increased 2.1% y-o-y over the year, while oil exports saw a decrease of 4.0%. The share of oil exports within the total export portfolio fell to 68.7%, down from 73.1% a year earlier.
Imports outpaced exports: The Kingdom’s merchandise trade surplus narrowed by 19.2% y-o-y in 2025 as imports rose 8.8%, outstripping export growth. Even so, the ratio of non-oil exports to imports improved to 38.5% from 35.3% in 2024.
Chemicals remain the largest non-oil export, accounting for 22.5% of the total non-oil exports in 2025, rising 4.7% y-o-y. Machinery and electrical equipment were close behind at 22.4% of the total, posting a 91.8% increase.
On the import side, machinery and electrical equipment held the top position, making up 29% of total imports after rising 24.6% y-o-y. Transportation equipment and parts ranked second, making up 13.6% of imports and increasing 3.6% y-o-y.
China remains Saudi Arabia's top trading partner: China was the Kingdom's largest export destination in 2025, accounting for 14.6% of merchandise exports, followed by the UAE at 10.0% and India at 9.4%. On the import side, China maintained a wide lead, supplying 27.5% of Saudi imports. The US followed at 8.2%, while the UAE accounted for 5.7%.
