UAE, Saudi Arabia’s non-oil foreign trade increased by 92.5% in the past decade

Non-oil foreign trade between the UAE and Saudi Arabia has grown by 92.5% over the past decade.

According to the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre (FCSC), non-oil foreign trade totaled AED124.69 billion at the end of 2021, compared to AED64.79 billion at the end of 2012.

From 2012 to 2021, Saudi Arabia is the UAE’s fourth largest trading partner, with a trade value of AED 904.3 billion, accounting for 5.6% of the UAE’s total international trade. Over the past decade, the UAE’s non-oil exports to Saudi Arabia were valued at around AED205.5 billion, while re-exports were valued at AED471.7 billion and imports were valued at AED227 billion.

According to the FCSC, trade between the two countries was AED79.9 billion in 2013, dropped to AED75.5 billion in 2014, and increased again to AED83.3 billion in 2015. The total non-oil trade between the two countries amounted to AED71.5 billion in 2016 and AED79.2 billion in 2017. It crossed the AED 1 billion mark in 2018, AED 113.2 billion in 2019 and AED 104 billion in 2020. In 2021, trade between the UAE and Saudi Arabia will reach AED124.6 billion.

2021
In 2021, re-exports will account for 48% of the total trade between the two countries, worth over AED59.78 billion, while exports will account for 30%, worth over AED37.85 billion.

Oil and petroleum derived from bituminous minerals topped the list of UAE imports in 2021 with a value of over AED5 billion, followed by ethylene polymers in primary form at AED3.35 billion and AED3.35 billion worth AED 1.87 billion in raw, semi-processed or powdered gold. Gold tops the list of major commodities exported to Saudi Arabia in 2021, valued at AED10.9 billion, followed by wires at AED3.11 billion.

Telephone equipment, including those for cellular and other wireless networks, tops the list of goods re-exported to Saudi Arabia in 2021, worth AED 11.58 billion, followed by machines and their units for information self-processing, magnetic Or optical readers, and machines used to transmit information in the form of codes on the stand, worth AED 6.12 billion, followed by cars worth AED 2.29 billion, auto parts and supplies worth AED 2.08 billion, and ready-to-wear clothing worth AED 1.59 billion.