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Saudi non-oil exports grew to SR28.2 billion ($7.52 billion) in March 2022 , from SR22.5 billion in the same month a year ago, the General Authority for Statistics, also known as GASTAT, said in a report.

Non-oil exports excluding re-exports rose by 22.4 percent year-on-year.

On a monthly basis, non-oil exports also grew by S3.2 billion, or 12.8 percent.

Oil exports, which includes crude oil and oil products, surged 123 percent in value terms excluding re-exports — a record high yearly growth since June 2021, data compiled by Arab News show. The Kingdom shipped crude and refined oil worth nearly SR114 billion ($30.4 billion) during the reported month.   

On a month-on-month basis, ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ's exports of crude and refined oil jumped 35.7 percent, having set a record high increase at least since February 2017.  

The Kingdom's merchandise imports increased to SR55.2 billion in March 2022. Imports grew 9.8 percent from the same month a year ago. Imports also saw an increase of 12.5 percent from the previous month, GASTAT said in its report.

As a result, the Kingdom's trade balance including re-exports grew 273 percent year-on-year, or nearly four-fold, to SR86.9 billion from SR59.9 billion in February. 

The trade balance figure for March is the highest on record since January 2017 and indicates a monthly gain of 45.2 percent, the highest since May 2021, data compiled by Arab News indicates.