UAE-Saudi Arabia trade surged 92% over past decade

The non-oil foreign trade between the UAE and Saudi Arabia grew by 92.5 per cent over the past decade.

It reached nearly AED 124.7 billion by the end of 2021 compared with AED 64.79 billion by the end of 2012, according to figures from the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre (FCSC).

Meanwhile, the trade exchange between the two countries in the first half of 2022 totalled AED 65.7 billion.

The total value of non-oil exports from the UAE to Saudi Arabia over the past ten years was around AED 205.5 billion, while re-exports were valued at AED 471.7 billion, and imports at AED 227 billion.

From 2012 to 2021, Saudi Arabia was the UAE’s fourth leading trading partner, with their trade exchange amounting to AED 904.3 billion, or 5.6 per cent of the UAE’s total international trade.

Saudi Arabia was ranked first in the list of countries that received re-exports from the UAE over the past 10 years, valued at nearly AED 423 billion.

It was also ranked second in the list of countries receiving Emirati non-oil exports, with a value of AED 206 billion, constituting 9.5 per cent of the UAE’s total non-oil exports.

According to the FCSC’s figures, the trade exchange between the two countries in 2013 was AED 79.9 billion, decreasing in 2014 to AED 75.5 billion, and increasing again in 2015 to AED 83.3 billion.

The non-oil trade exchange between the two countries totalled AED 71.5 billion in 2016 and AED 79.2 billion in 2017. In 2018, it crossed the AED 100 billion mark.

In 2019, their non-oil trade exchange was valued at AED 113.2 billion, and in 2020, it amounted to some AED 104 billion.

In 2021, the trade exchange between the UAE and Saudi Arabia amounted to AED 124.6 billion, a rise of 20 per cent compared to 2020, and 10 per cent compared to 2019.

Re-exports represented 48 per cent of the total trade between the two countries in 2021, valued at more than AED 59.78 billion while exports accounted for 30 per cent, with a value of more than AED 37.85 billion, and merchandise imports for 22 per cent valued at more than AED 26.97 billion.

In 2021, petroleum and oil obtained from bituminous minerals topped the list of Emirati imports, with a value of over AED 5 billion, followed by ethylene polymers in their primary forms valued at AED 3.35 billion, and raw, semi-worked or powdered gold with a value of AED 1.87 billion, and then by propylene polymers in their primary forms.

Gold topped the list of key commodities exported to Saudi Arabia in 2021, with a value of AED 10.9 billion, followed by wires valued at AED 3.11 billion.

Telephone devices, including phones for cellular networks and other wireless networks, topped the list of goods that were re-exported to Saudi Arabia in 2021, with a value of AED 11.58 billion, followed by machines for the self-processing of information and their units, magnetic or optical readers, and machines for transmitting information on stands in the form of codes worth AED 6.12 billion, and then by cars worth AED 2.29 billion, vehicle parts and supplies worth AED 2.08 billion, and ready-made clothes worth AED 1.59 billion.