The trade balance of the Sultanate of Oman recorded a surplus of OMR 6.997 billion ($18.2 billion) at the end of November 2023, a decrease from the OMR 9.587 billion ($24.9 billion) it obtained during the same period in 2022.
The data has been published by the National Center for Statistics and Information.
Last November, Oman’s merchandise exports totalled OMR 20.6 billion, an 11.4% decrease from the 23.2 billion rials recorded in November 2022. The value of merchandise imports to Oman totalled OMR 13.6 billion, a 0.5% decrease compared to the previous year’s same period, which recorded OMR 13.7 billion.
The decline in export value was primarily attributed to a 17.7% drop in oil and gas exports, falling to OMR 12.5 billion from OMR 15.2 billion in November 2022.Â
Within the oil and gas sector, crude exports amounted to approximately OMR 8.9 billion by the end of November 2023, marking a 17.3% decrease year-on-year (YoY), while refined oil exports decreased 23.5% YoY to OMR 1.3 billion. Natural gas exports declined 15.7% YoY to OMR 2.3 billion.
The data also revealed a 1.4% decline in the value of non-oil merchandise exports by the end of November 2023, totalling OMR 6.7 billion compared to OMR6.8 billion in November 2022.Â
The value of re-exports increased to OMR 1.3 billion by the end of November 2023, up 11.1% from November 2022.
