Saudi markets imported pearls and precious stones worth SR21.8 billion in 2015, compared to SR19.2 billion in 2014, or an increase of 13 percent, local media said.
Imports of pearls and precious stones represented 3.3 percent of the Kingdom’s total imports, which stood at SR655 billion in 2015, compared to 2.9 percent in 2014, with its total imports of SR652 billion, an analytical study conducted by Al-Eqtisadiah daily said.
Meanwhile, Saudi pearl and precious stone exports represented 0.3 percent of the Kingdom’s total exports which stood at SR763.3 billion in 2015, compared to 0.2 percent in 2014, with its total exports of SR1.28 trillion, the report said.
In the eight-year period from 2008 to 2015, Saudi imports of pearls and precious stones reached nearly SR93.5 billion, the biggest in 2015, at SR21.8 billion.
In 2008, the Kingdom’s imports of these two commodities were valued at SR5.2 billion but dropped by 39 percent to SR3.2 billion in 2009 and soared by 49 percent to SR 5 billion in 2010, the report said.
Since 2010, the Kingdom’s pearl and precious stone imports have been steadily growing as follows: Ninety-two percent in 2011 to hit SR9.2 billion, 19 percent in 2012 (SR11 billion), 73 percent in 2013 (SR19 billion), 1 percent in 2014 (SR19.2 billion) and then by 13 percent in 2015 to hit SR21.8 billion, the report said.
Switzerland and the UAE topped the list of countries mostly exporting pearls and precious stones to the Kingdom in 2015, followed by China.
Based on data released by the General Authority for Statistics (GAS), the volume of Saudi commodity trade reached SR1.4 trillion in 2015, compared to SR1.9 trillion in 2014, a decrease of 26.7 percent, the report said.
The volume of Saudi trade exchange with other countries reached nearly SR15.6 trillion in the last ten years, the biggest in 2013, valued at SR2.04 trillion, the report said.

Source: Arab News