Kuwait’s non-oil exports surge by 20.4% to reach 106 million dinars in January

• Kuwait’s import distribution revealed that F&B imports totaled 145.5 million dinars, representing about 15.5% of country’s total revenue of 939.4 million dinars.

The drop in oil prices led to a 10% year-on-year decrease in the commercial surplus in January, falling from 1.2 billion dinars to 1.1 billion dinars compared to the same month last year.

According to the official figures issued by the Central Administration for Statistics, Kuwait’s exports during the mentioned period amounted to about two billion dinars, reflecting an eight percent decline from the corresponding period last year when exports of 2.2 billion dinars were recorded. Imports also decreased by approximately 7.5percent, reaching 939.4 million dinars compared to about 1.01 billion dinars in January last year.

Oil exports

With national exports reaching approximately 2.08 billion dinars last January, oil comprised the largest share at 91.5% of Kuwaiti exports, totaling about 1.9 billion dinars. This marked a yearly decline of 241 million dinars, attributed to the country’s adherence to oil production cuts set by the OPEC+ alliance. Meanwhile, non-oil exports amounted to about 106 million dinars, representing a 20.4% increase from the corresponding period last year, when they stood at about 88.4 million dinars.

Local products exported abroad varied between organic chemical products, steel manufactures, machinery, and equipment, essential oils, and dairy products.

Importing countries

Regarding the most significant countries importing Kuwaiti goods (excluding oil exports), the UAE ranked first with total exports reaching about 40 million dinars. Following closely was Iraq, which received Kuwaiti exports worth 34.3 million dinars, followed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with imports totaling 22 million dinars during January.

In January, Kuwait’s import distribution revealed that food and beverage (F&B) imports totaled 145.5 million dinars, representing approximately 15.5% of Kuwait’s total revenue of 939.4 million dinars.

Additionally, imports of industrial supplies amounted to around 228.5 million dinars, while transport equipment imports were valued at about 148 million dinars.

Examining the countries of origin, China contributed approximately 21.6% of Kuwait’s imports with goods worth 203 million dinars, followed by the UAE at 118.3 million dinars (12.6% of Kuwait’s total imports), and the United States of America at 77 million dinars.