Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) on Wednesday said that the value of the country’s merchandise imports retreated 12.3% or SAR 17.54 billion in the first quarter of 2017.
Merchandise imports stood at SAR 125.56 billion in Q1-17, compared to SAR 143.1 billion in Q1-16, GASTAT added.
Quarter-on-quarter, merchandise imports decreased 0.05% or SAR 57 billion.
The electrical equipment machinery and mechanical appliances’ merchandise imports dropped 19.3% to SAR 30.19 billion in Q1-17, from SAR 37.4 billion in the same period in the year earlier.
The associated transport equipment merchandise imports declined 19.1% to reach SAR 20.53 billion in Q1-17, compared to SAR 25.38 billion in the corresponding period in the year earlier.
Year-on-year, the precious stones, jewellery, and pearls merchandise imports rose 38.5% to SAR 4.16 billion, from SAR 3 billion.
