Oman Records $8.8 Billion Trade Surplus in May

Muscat, Aug 15 (KUNA) -- Oman’s trade balance recorded a surplus of 3.4 billion rials ($8.84 billion) at the end of May, representing a growth rate of 37.2 percent compared with the surplus recorded during the same period in 2025. Data released today by the Oman National Centre for Statistics and Information showed that the total value of Oman’s merchandise exports rose by 10.1 percent in May compared with the same period last year, driven by an 8.4 percent increase in the value of oil and gas exports. Regarding re-exports, data showed their value in May rose by 64 percent to reach 1 billion rials ($2.6 billion), compared with 623 million rials ($1.6 billion). Non-oil exports grew by 1.5 percent to reach 2.74 billion rials ($7.12 billion) in May. On the import side, the data indicated that the value of merchandise imports rose by 0.8 percent to reach 7.22 billion rials ($18.77 billion) at the end of May, compared with 7.2 billion rials ($18.72 billion) during the same period in 2025. Among trading partners, the United Arab Emirates topped the list of key destinations for Oman’s non-oil exports, followed by Saudi Arabia and then India. The UAE also led the list of countries to which re-exports were sent, followed by Iran and then Saudi Arabia. Regarding merchandise imports, the UAE also topped the list of the main exporting countries to Oman, with a value of 1.9 billion rials ($4.94 billion) in May, followed by China at 986 million rials (about $2.6 billion) and Turkey at 550 million rials ($1.4 billion). (End) M.G.B./A.M.S.