Progress of Industrial Exports

The Kingdom has devoted great attention to the development of industrial exports, in accordance with the government's comprehensive economic development strategies aiming at expansion of production base and diversification of income sources. Despite the relative recentness of industry in Saudi Arabia, particularly the experience of private sector in the field of exports, Saudi industrial exports have achieved wide steps in this area, in particular, the Chemical Industries have scored a great success in penetration of international markets. Table below shows the growth of the values and contributions of Saudi industrial exports during the period from 1992 to 2006G.

Progress in Saudi Industrial Exports: 1992 � 2006 G

Year	Industrial Exports (SR' Million)	% of Total Exports	% of Non-Oil GDP
1992	12,537	7	4.2
1993	12,607	8	4.0
1994	15,449	10	4.7
1995	22,558	12	6.7
1996	21,364	9	6.0
1997	24,721	11	6.5
1998	21,131	15	5.5
1999	19,448	10	4.9
2000	22,920	8	5.6
2001	26,547	10	6.3
2002	27,691	10	6.3
2003	35,743	10	7.7
2004	47,566	10	9,4
2005	60,000	9	10,8
2006	64,436	8	10.9

Source: Central Department of Statistics � Ministry of Economy & Planning

The previous table shows that Saudi industrial exports achieved a rapid growth over the past years. Value of these exports showed an annual growth rate of 12.6% during 1992-2006, increasing from about SR 12,537 million in 1992G to about SR 64,436 million in 2006G. The significant increase in the industrial exports in 2003 and 2004 is mainly attributed to the substantial increase in the exports of petrochemical products. As of the industrial exports ratio to KSA's non-oil GDP, it grew from 4.2 % in 1992G to 11% in 2006G, indicating the importance of the exports as a factor of economic development.

With regard to the structure of the Saudi industrial exports, the following figure shows the petrochemical exports versus other exports during 1992-2006G.

Composition of Saudi Industrial Exports (1992 - 2006G)

Source: Central Department of Statistics � Ministry of Economy & Planning * primary estimates

The above figure shows that the petrochemical exports represent about two thirds of the total Saudi industrial exports. The exports of petrochemical products sector have witnessed a rapid growth since 1994G as its exports value increased from SR 8,349 millions in 1993G to the level of SR 16,698 millions in 1997G. However, in 1999G the petrochemical exports declined to SR 12,718 millions, then increased again to reach the level of SR 42,055 millions in 2005G. Furthermore, preliminary figures indicate that the petrochemicals exports recorded SR 41,944 millions in 2006G. The other non-petrochemical industrial exports have also experienced a good growth during 1992-2006G, jumping from about SR 4,059 million in 1992 to about SR22,492 in 2006G. The following table reflects a detailed picture of the Saudi industrial exports performance during 1992-2006G. In addition to the petrochemical sector, as shown in the same table, other exporting sectors, include Basic Metals Industries, Machinery and Equipment Industry and Food Industry. It is wroth noting that most of these sectors achieved high export growth rates.