Saudi non-oil exports down 5pc in May
Riyadh, July 9, 2014
Saudi Arabia's imports fell an annual 5 per cent in May, the seventh drop in a row, while non-oil exports dropped 5.1 per cent, their first fall since March 2013, data from the Central Department of Statistics and Information showed on Wednesday.
The non-oil exports account for around 12 per cent of overall exports of Saudi Arabia. The world's largest oil exporter does not release complete trade data on a monthly basis. Trade data are often revised by the statistics office.
Percentage changes are Reuters calculations based on the offical data.
Analysts polled by Reuters in April forecast Saudi Arabia's current account surplus would come in at 16.6 per cent of gross domestic product in 2014 and 11.9 per cent in 2015.-Reuters