Starting the year on a strong note: Non-oil exports, including re-exports, rose 22.1% y-o-y in January, according to data (pdf) from the General Authority for Statistics. The surge was almost entirely fueled by a 95.5% jump in re-exports, particularly in machinery and electrical equipment.

Oil exports experienced a decline of 6.4% during the same period. The share of oil exports within the Kingdom's total export portfolio decreased to 67%, compared to 72.6% a year earlier.

The Kingdom’s merchandise trade surplus fell 17.5% y-o-y in January 2026; meanwhile, merchandise imports rose 6.5% y-o-y, outpacing merchandise exports, which increased by 1.4% y-o-y.

Machinery and electrical equipment led at 24.2% of non-oil exports, up 77.5% y-o-y, while chemical products followed, making up 19.2% of non-oil exports, though they recorded a 3.1% y-o-y decline.

Machinery and electrical equipment dominated imports as well, accounting for 30.3% of the total and increasing by 23.7% y-o-y, signaling continued investment in infrastructure and industrial capacity. Transport equipment and parts ranked second, representing 13.7% of imports and growing by 7.3% y-o-y.

China emerged as the primary destination for Saudi Arabia’s merchandise exports, accounting for 15.1% of the total. This was followed by the United Arab Emirates at 12.9% and India at 9.8%. Other key export destinations included Japan, South Korea, the Kingdom of Bahrain, Singapore, Egypt, Malta, and the U.S.A., with these top ten countries collectively representing 68.6% of the Kingdom’s overall exports.

On the imports side, China also ranked first as the Kingdom’s main merchandise source, accounting for 31.0% of total imports. The United Arab Emirates followed at 7.7%, with the U.S.A. at 6.9%. The remaining top ten import sources were India, Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, France, and South Korea, which together represented 70.8% of Saudi Arabia’s total imports for the month.

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