01Key Takeaways
- Saudi Arabia imported $206.94 billion worth of goods in 2023, up 9.0% from $189.87 billion in 2022, the most recent year with verified trade data available in this dataset.
- Machinery, boilers and mechanical appliances led import categories at 12.6% ($26.18 billion), closely followed by vehicles at 12.3%.
- China supplied 20.9% of imports ($43.35 billion), by far the largest single partner.
- The USA ranked second among partners at 9.1% ($18.90 billion).
025-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $153.1B | $138.0B | $152.7B | $189.9B | $206.9B |
03Top Import Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | $43.3B | 20.9% |
| 2 | United States | $18.9B | 9.1% |
| 3 | United Arab Emirates | $13.3B | 6.4% |
| 4 | India | $11.6B | 5.6% |
| 5 | Germany | $9.1B | 4.4% |
| 6 | Japan | $8.2B | 4.0% |
| 7 | Switzerland | $6.6B | 3.2% |
| 8 | South Korea | $6.0B | 2.9% |
| 9 | Italy | $5.9B | 2.8% |
| 10 | Egypt | $5.3B | 2.5% |
04Top Import Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $26.2B | 12.6% |
| 2 | Vehicles other than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock, and parts and accessories thereof | $25.4B | 12.3% |
| 3 | Electrical Machinery and Equipment and parts thereof; Sound Recorders and Reproducers, Television Image and Sound Recorders and Reproducers, and Parts and Accessories of such Articles | $19.7B | 9.5% |
| 4 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $15.3B | 7.4% |
| 5 | Natural or Cultured Pearls, Precious or Semi-Precious Stones, Precious Metals, Metals Clad with Precious Metal, and Articles thereof; Imitation Jewellery; Coin | $9.0B | 4.3% |
| 6 | Pharmaceutical Products | $7.8B | 3.8% |
| 7 | Commodities not specified according to kind | $6.7B | 3.2% |
| 8 | Articles of Iron or Steel | $5.8B | 2.8% |
| 9 | Optical, Photographic, Cinematographic, Measuring, Checking, Precision, Medical or Surgical Instruments and Apparatus; Parts and Accessories thereof | $5.5B | 2.7% |
| 10 | Iron and Steel | $5.5B | 2.6% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Import Value Has Grown for Two Straight Years
Saudi Arabia imported $206.94 billion worth of goods in 2023, up 9.0% from $189.87 billion in 2022. This is the most recent year with verified trade data available in this dataset. The dataset covers a full five years, from 2019 through 2023.
Import value moved unevenly through the earlier part of this five-year window, before settling into a clearer upward path. It stood at $153.13 billion in 2019, eased to $137.98 billion in 2020, then recovered to $152.70 billion in 2021. Imports then climbed for two straight years, reaching $189.87 billion in 2022 and $206.94 billion in 2023, the highest point in this five-year window.
On the export side of trade for this country, value peaked in 2022 and fell back in 2023. Import value followed the opposite pattern, continuing to climb through 2023. This dataset does not include information explaining either movement on its own. Export value in this dataset remains larger than import value in every year covered, a gap typical of a major oil-exporting economy like this one, even as the two figures moved in opposite directions most recently.
Machinery and Vehicles Lead a Diversified Import List
Machinery, boilers and mechanical appliances led every import category in 2023. They were worth $26.18 billion, or 12.6% of the total. Vehicles followed closely at 12.3% ($25.43 billion), and electrical machinery and equipment added 9.5% ($19.67 billion). Mineral fuels contributed 7.4% ($15.26 billion), a far smaller share than the 77.0% mineral fuels holds on the export side of trade for this country.
Natural and precious stones, metals and jewellery added 4.3% ($8.97 billion). Switzerland refines roughly a third of the world's newly mined gold and ranks as the world's largest gold importer and exporter by value, a role that lines up with Switzerland's position among Saudi Arabia's top ten import suppliers, covered below. Pharmaceutical products contributed 3.8% ($7.78 billion).
A category labeled "commodities not specified according to kind," a recognized catch-all classification within international trade statistics, added 3.2% ($6.70 billion). Iron or steel articles contributed 2.8% ($5.77 billion), and optical, photographic and measuring instruments added 2.7% ($5.51 billion). Iron and steel closed out the top ten at 2.6% ($5.45 billion).
A list topped by machinery, vehicles and electronics, rather than any single resource, describes an import economy bringing in capital equipment and finished manufactured goods. This pattern is common among large economies that export raw materials but import advanced manufactured products. Vehicles alone are worth nearly as much as the top category, and together the top three categories cover a wide range of industrial and consumer equipment rather than a narrow set of related goods.
China Supplies a Fifth of Saudi Arabia's Imports
China supplied 20.9% of Saudi Arabia's imports in 2023, worth $43.35 billion, by far the largest single partner. United States ranked second at 9.1% ($18.90 billion), and United Arab Emirates followed at 6.4% ($13.35 billion). Together, the top three suppliers made up 36.5% of total import value.
India contributed 5.6% ($11.62 billion), and Germany added 4.4% ($9.12 billion). Japan contributed 4.0% ($8.18 billion), and Switzerland added 3.2% ($6.61 billion). South Korea contributed 2.9% ($6.03 billion), and Italy added 2.8% ($5.87 billion). Egypt closed out the top ten at 2.5% ($5.27 billion).
This import partner list looks very different from the export side of trade for this country. There, a single unspecified-destination category absorbed most of the total, and China ranked as only the third-largest named destination. On the import side, China stands clearly ahead of every other named supplier, and named countries account for nearly all of the total. That difference reflects how each side of Saudi Arabia's trade is reported in this dataset. Import shipments arrive from known origins that customs authorities record in detail, while a large share of export shipments, mostly crude oil, are logged without a specific reported buyer.
Taken together, this dataset's most recent confirmed year describes an economy importing a broad mix of machinery, vehicles and consumer goods from a geographically wide set of suppliers, led by China. That stands in contrast to the far more concentrated and less transparent partner breakdown seen on the export side of trade for this country. Reading the two datasets side by side shows an economy that sells a single resource to largely unnamed buyers while buying a wide range of manufactured goods from a clearly identified set of trading partners.