The surplus of the Saudi foreign trade balance (oil and non-oil) decreased by 60.3% year on year during the first five months of 2020.
According to a survey of Anatolia, based on data issued by the General Authority for Statistics in Saudi Arabia (government) on Thursday, the trade balance surplus amounted to 19.9 billion dollars, compared to 50.2 billion dollars during the same period last year.
The value of merchandise exports (oil and non-oil) decreased by 36.2% to $ 72.4 billion, and imports fell 17.1% to $ 52.5 billion.
The value of oil exports to Saudi Arabia - the world's largest oil exporter - fell during the first five months of this year by 40% to $ 52.75 billion.
During the month of May alone, the value of Saudi oil exports decreased by 65% year on year, to drop to the equivalent of 12 billion dollars, according to Reuters reported.
Oil prices have been hit hard this year by the implications of the Corona Virus outbreak on global demand for crude, which is the main source of income for Saudi Arabia.
The merchandise trade surplus (oil and non-oil) of Saudi Arabia fell by 25.7% during the year 2019 to reach 117.2 billion dollars, compared to 157.8 billion dollars in 2018.