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Saudi Arabia's Top Imports & Exports 2008

Crude Oil Represents 97.2% of Saudi Arabian Exports to America

© Daniel Workman

Oct 2, 2009
US Exports of Military Aircraft to Saudi Arabia Up, Paul Friel (Wikimedia Commons)
Saudi Arabia exported US$53.2 billion worth of crude oil to the US last year, while importing $450 million worth of American-made military products including aircraft.

Achieving a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) valued at US$481.6 billion, Saudi Arabia was the world’s 23rd richest country in 2008.

With a population of 28.7 million Saudis who enjoyed an average GDP of $20,700 per person last year, Saudi Arabia placed 57th among other nations in terms of GDP per capita.

As the world’s 15th biggest exporter, Saudi Arabia shipped $309.8 billion worth of exports in 2008. Ninety percent of Saudi Arabian exports were petroleum and petroleum products. Based on 2008 statistics, Saudi Arabia’s largest export clients were the United States (18.5%), Japan (16.5%), China (10.2%), South Korea (8.6%) and Singapore (4.8%).

According to the CIA World Factbook, Saudi Arabia imported $108.3 billion worth of foreign goods last year. Major commodities imported into Saudi Arabia include machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, motor vehicles and textiles. Leading suppliers to Saudi Arabia were the United States (12.4%), China (10.6%), Japan (7.8%), Germany (7.5%), Italy (4.9%), South Korea (4.7%) and the United Kingdom (4.2%).

In total, Saudi Arabia’s international trade amounted to $418.1 billion or 86.8% in relation to its overall GDP. This compares with roughly 25% for the U.S. and 60% for Canada.

Saudi Arabian Trade with the U.S.

Last year, Saudi Arabian exports to America fell 4% to $12.5 billion. Over that same period, Saudi Arabia bought $5 billion worth of U.S. imports – an increase of 12.2%.

Therefore, Saudi Arabia’s trade surplus with the U.S. came to $7.5 billion in 2008.

The lists below present the top 10 exports and imports that American and Saudi Arabian enterprises exchanged in 2008. The fastest-growing trade product categories are also shown.

Saudi Arabia’s Top Exports to America

Saudi Arabia garnered a 57.3% increase in revenues from crude oil exports to the US in 2008. Saudi Arabia’s number one export accounted for 97.2% of total shipments to America. Among smaller-volume Saudi Arabian exports, 5 products categories had declines ranging from 15.1% to a massive decline of 90% in Saudi Arabian exports of liquified petroleum gas to the U.S.

  1. Crude oil … US$53.2 billion, up 57.3% from 2007 (97.2% of US imports from Saudi Arabia)
  2. Other petroleum products … $756.4 million, down 15.1% (1.4%)
  3. Fertilizers and pesticides … $249.7 million, up 64.3% (0.5%)
  4. Industrial organic chemicals … $228 million, up 20.6% (0.4%)
  5. Fuel oil … $63.3 million, down 35.1% (0.1%)
  6. Liquified petroleum gases … $19.4 million, down 90% (0.035%)
  7. Aluminum … $18.3 million, up 112.8% (0.033%)
  8. Plastic materials … $16.9 million, down 41.6% (0.031%)
  9. Synthetic cloth, fabrics and thread … $15.7 million, up 14.8% (0.29%)
  10. Finished textile industrial supplies … $13.3 million, down 27.2% (0.24%).

Fastest-Growing Saudi Arabian Exports to the U.S.

The 10 fastest-growing Saudi Arabian exports to America experienced relatively mild gains in 2008. Three relatively small export categories had triple-digit percentage gains while the 7 other products realized double-digit increases as low as 17.6%.

  1. Other automotive parts … US$6.7 million, up 205.9% from 2007
  2. Unmanufactured steelmaking materials … $10.7 million, up 122.5%
  3. Aluminum … $18.3 million, up 112.8%
  4. Fertilizers and pesticides … $249.7million, up 64.3%
  5. Crude oil … $53.2 billion, up 57.3%
  6. Other industrial machinery … $3 million, up 40.9%
  7. Rugs and other textile floor coverings … $12 million, up 27.3%
  8. Industrial organic chemicals … $228 million, up 20.6%
  9. Bakery and confectionary products … $1.1 million, up 19.4%
  10. Medicinal, dental and pharmaceutical preparations … $4.7 million, up 17.6%.

Saudi Arabia’s Top Imports from America

Topping the list, American exports of passenger cars and industrial engines to Saudi Arabia amounted to $4.4 billion. Together, the 10 product categories account for 57.9% of total Saudi Arabian imports from the U.S.

  1. Passenger cars … US$3.3 billion, up 54.4% from 2007 (26.4% of US exports to Saudi Arabia)
  2. Industrial engines … $1.1 billion, down 28.5% (8.8%)
  3. Oilfield and drilling equipment … $540.6 million, down 5% (4.3%)
  4. Other industrial machines … $523.5 million, up 12.5% (4.2%)
  5. Electric apparatus … $330 million, up 5.2% (2.6%)
  6. Civilian aircraft … $315.4 million, up 27.2% (2.5%)
  7. Excavating machinery … $308.3 million, up 48.8% (2.5%)
  8. Parts for military-type goods… $292.6 million, up 279.9% (2.5%)
  9. Other chemicals … $266.4 million, up 5.4% (2.1%)
  10. Generators … $244.7 million, down 27.2% (2%).

Fastest-Growing Saudi Arabian Imports from the U.S.

American exports of military aircraft to Saudi Arabia spiked by a formidable 11,673% in 2008. While coal represents a much smaller U.S. export in terms of volume, metallurgical grade coal did post an intense percentage gain of almost 8,000%.

  1. Military aircraft, complete … US$155.7 million, up 11,673%
  2. Metallurgical grade coal … $15.7 million, up 7,973%
  3. Non-military aircraft … $1.1 million, up 885.5%
  4. Parts for military-type goods… $292.6 million, up 279.9%
  5. Jewelry … $8.3 million, up 234.7%
  6. Specialized mining equipment … $14.5 million, up 215.4%
  7. Dairy products and eggs … $59.4 million, up 196.6%
  8. Soybeans … $23.5 million, up 175.6%
  9. Food and tobacco machinery … $88.5 million, up 165.1%
  10. Manufactured agriculture goods … $8 million, up 159%.

Comparative Trade Advantages

During 2008, Saudi Arabia exported $53.2 billion worth of crude oil to the U.S. while importing no unprocessed oil from American suppliers.

These Saudi Arabian-American trade statistics show that Saudi Arabia has a dominant comparative advantage over the U.S. in crude-oil trade between the 2 nations.

On the other hand, America exported $155.7 million worth of military aircraft to Saudi Arabia in 2008 contrasted with U.S. imports of Saudi Arabian military aircraft worth $15,000.

That the U.S. exported more than 1,000 times the value of Saudi Arabian military aircraft clearly shows that America has a comparative advantage in exporting military aircraft to Saudi Arabia.

Sources

This analysis is based on latest statistics from the US Census Bureau- Foreign Trade Statistics and CIA World Factbook as of the date of article publication.


The copyright of the article Saudi Arabia's Top Imports & Exports 2008 in Import/Export is owned by Daniel Workman. Permission to republish Saudi Arabia's Top Imports & Exports 2008 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.


US Exports of Military Aircraft to Saudi Arabia Up, Paul Friel (Wikimedia Commons)
Saudi Arabia Exports $53.2 Billion of Crude Oil , William S. Stevens (Wikimedia Commons)
Saudi Imports of American Passenger Cars, RoganJosh (Morguefile)
Saudi Arabian Exports of Pesticides to US, pingnews.com (Morguefile)
US Exports of Military Equipment to Saudi Arabia, Elsie esq. (Flickr)


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