The newspaper Al-Eqtisadiah reported that the Gulf Cooperation Council’s combined trade balance of countries was approximately $ 366.6 billion in the past year (2021), including intra-regional trade.
In a report based on data from the World Trade Organization and Gulf statistical agencies monitored by its reporting unit, the Saudi newspaper Al-Eqtisadiah said that “the surplus of the trade balance of the Gulf states increased last year by approximately 130 percent, compared to last year ”, because the trade balance represents the difference between the total value of exports and imports of goods.
And the newspaper noted that “in recent years, world trade has witnessed a broad recovery after the Corona pandemic, in which trade recorded the biggest decline in decades.”
The “Al-Eqtisadiah” report indicates that the trade surplus of the Gulf countries comes mainly from oil and gas exports, with the surplus achieved in 2021 being the highest in three years. , that is, since 2018, worth 395,500 million dollars ”. “, Explaining that“ the excess occurs after Gulf countries registered exports for 936.2 billion dollars and imports for 569.6 billion dollars, since rising oil prices last year supported the values of exports, which grew by 53%, while imports grew by 26%.
The report revealed that “Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are among the largest countries in the world in terms of trade balance surplus in 2021”, noting that Saudi Arabia achieved a trade surplus last year of $ 123.3 billion, equivalent to approximately 33.7 percent of the total surplus achieved by the Gulf states, and the UAE ranks second after posting an excess of 105.6 billion dollars, making up approximately 28.9% of the region’s combined surplus of the Gulf, while the share of the two countries together constitutes about 62.6%.
The newspaper report added that “Qatar is in third place, with a surplus of $ 58.77 billion, or 16% of the total, while Kuwait is in fourth place, with a trade surplus of $ 38.26 billion. , or 10.4% of the total, was followed by Oman and Bahrain, which posted surpluses on the balance sheet. ” Commercial transactions reached $ 31.6 billion and about nine billion dollars, respectively, at rates of 8.6% and 2.5%.
Source: “The Economist”
Source: Arabic RT
