Saudi Arabia Economic Condition - Case Study Example

Introduction Physical and Social Presentation of Country: Saudi Arabia is generally known as The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The country has an area of830,000 square mile approximately. By land, it is the largest state of Western Asia. It is second largest country of the Arab world and has great volume of the Arabian Peninsula. It has four region southern Arabia, Najd, eastern Arabia and Hejaz. The climate of Saudi Arabia is like desert hot in the day and cold in the night. In summers, sometimes the temperature exceeds from 130o F. 95% of the total land of Saudi Arabia is desert. The largest desert of the world is called Rub al Khali and it is in Saudi Arabia. The capital of the country is Riyadh. Figure 1: Map Natural resources found in the country are gold, copper, iron ore, gas and petroleum. Abdul-Aziz Bin Saud was the founder of the country and the country was founded in 1932 (Al-Rasheed, 2013). 99% of the population of the country is Muslims and it is divided into two groups Bedouins (people have nomadic standard of living) and Arabs. Majority belongs to Sunni Fiqah. Country follows the stick regulations and laws of Islam. Human rights are based on the laws of Islamic religion. Saudi Arabia faced criticism due to its political minorities and religious treatment. In basic law of Saudi Arabia; article 26 is the specification of human rights. Economic Condition: Economy of the country is oil based, and the government has strong control over these economic actions. The country is the largest exporter of oil and acquires 25% of reserves of the world’s oil. Oil industry provides 90% of export earnings in 2011; and 75% of revenue budget. The rough figures of the people who play an important role in oil and service sector is 5.5 million. For the growth of the population, the government is trying to increase the employment opportunities and at the same time making efforts to reduce the reliance on oil. The country is the second largest producer of oil after Russia and provides help to diverse countries. The private sector has a major role in the economy of Saudi Arabia. The country’s manufacturing and construction business is contributing 48% in GDP. This sector is expected to grow. Figure 2: Economic condition In 2012, the country was the world’s biggest exporter of the total petroleum liquid. GDP is considered as the strong indicator of the economic growth. Manufacturing sector, gas and oil sector contribute 10% to 11% of the total GDP of the country. The sub sector of petrochemical contributes 1.1%. Year 2008, was the year of the financial crisis for the whole world as this financial crisis was the worst crisis since 1930s greater depression (Pendery, 2009). Saudi Arabia had a great impact of this global financial crisis as the GDP of the country decreased, and the result was a great fall of gross domestic products in 2009. However, Saudi Arabia has recovered from the 2008 financial disaster; that can be seen through the increase of GDP after 2009. Numerous spending plans and public initiatives were taken to facilitate the positive trend of the economic growth. The average real GDP in 2012 was 3.3 percent. In 2012, the GDP was better than the projected one. Government rose its spending on social and health affairs in 2012. Later in 2013, GDP grew up by 3.8 percent. Inflation is a rate at which the prices of services and goods increase; it is the opposite of deflation. Inflation rate explains that the purchasing power of the country’s individuals is falling. In 2011, the global rate of inflation increased up to 4.8 percent. Top authorities of the country are trying hard to control the inflation and at some extent have been successful to get the required result. The inflation of Saudi Arabia was 4.12% in 2007 that went-up to 9.9% in 2008; the reason of this inflation increase was the high oil prices. The government was successful in reducing the inflation back at a low rate of 5.057 to 5.352 percent in 2009 to 2010. This rate was decreased by 4.97 percent in 2011 and 4.91 in 2012 (IMF, 2012). Another important indicator is the unemployment rate of the country. In 2011, global unemployment rate decreased. In 2007, the unemployment rate of Saudi Arabia was 1%. Unemployment rate was then reduced by 9.8 in 2008, and then it increased by 10.464 in 2009. It is considered that soon the special authorities would find the way to overcome from unemployment issue (Zawya, 2014). Political Presentation: Saudi Arabia does not have any political parties. The government system of Saudi Arabia is based on crown princes and kings. The country is governed according to the rules and laws of Shariah. The basic law was introduced in 1993 that articulates the government’s responsibilities and rights. The administrative divisions are in 13 provinces. The king Al-Saud-Clan is responsible for political decision making. Council of ministers help the king and consultative council advice him. The council of ministers includes Prime Minister (the King), the deputy prime minister, seven ministers of state and 21 with portfolio. The consultative council includes 150 members who are appointed by the king. The political stability of the country has hurt due to the terrorist attacks. The political trajectory of the country is stable (SADA, 2013). From the time king Abdullah came into power, he has made several efforts for the improvements of women’s rights. King Abdullah promoted the political rights of women through the appointment of women in Shura Council. He appointed 30 women in Shura Council on January 11, 2013 (Baker, 2013). Political dynamics of the country are different from the other countries in Middle East, and the policy of the country is not the active one. The focus of the policy is on the stability of the region. Current account and trade trends Current Account: Current account of the country represents the discrepancy between the nation’s investment and its savings. It is also an indicator of an economy and measure the health. It is a sum of three items that are net income from abroad, balance of trade and net current transfers. The positive trend in the current balance shows that the country is a net provider of the rest of the world. In contrast, the negative trend in the current account shows that the country is a borrower of the rest of the world. If there is an excess or surplus in country’s current account it will contribute in the increase of net foreign assets; but if there is any deficit the foreign net assets will be decreased by the amount of surplus. CURRENT ACCOUNT DETAILS: Figure 3: Current account (IMF, 2012) The details of current account can be witnessed from the above snapshot. Oil exports are the major contributor than other and have a vast impact on current account. There is a clear increase in oil export till 2008 which decreased in 2009 same was with other goods and services. The year of 2009 was not only difficult for Saudi Arabia, but the whole world was suffering from the financial crisis. In 2012, there was growth in the imports of oil, and the decline in the current account balances of Saudi Arabia was getting worse. According to the downsize scenario Saudi Arabia is projected to experience deficit in the current account by the year of 2017 (IMF, 2012). Services deficit is showing the payment of insurance and other services therefore; it is not expected to change. Figure 4: Current account trend (IMF, 2012) In the above graph, the current account (% of GDP) trend is placed. According to the data of IMF in 2007; the current account was measured at 24.25%, 27.78 percent in 2008, 5.56 percent in 2009, 14.641 percent in 2010, and 26.55 percent in 2011, and in 2012, it was measured 26.10 percent (Gulf Base, 2012). The surplus of the current account is expected to increase by the end of 2014. Chart is showing the 26.07 % of GDP surplus in the current account and this figure is higher than expected. According to Bebow (2013) Saudi Arabia is third in the list of countries that are running the largest current account surplus around the globe. In order to be number one, Saudi Arabia has to increase its oil prices; because the country is repaying the debts of public from the oil revenues. If country continues offering oil at the same prices, then the current account of the country would get worse. It is found - by the mineral resources and petroleum ministries - that the 10% of domestic oil purchased in the country find its way to neighbor nations and these supplies are done through filling the trucks’ tanks on the border. This smuggling is threatening for the current account (Steve and Lahan, 2011). Another problem is the increased consumption of energy; the fuel consumption is increasing due to the increased population which is influencing the current account negatively and in order reduced the consumption Saudi Arabia has to increased energy priced, suggested by IMF. Despite all these problems, Saudi Arabia is a net lender with extremely vigorous external position (Business Recorder, 2014). Trade composition The major products that are exported by the country are crude oil, refined petroleum, acyclic alcohols, ethylene polymers and petroleum gas. In 2008the exports of Saudi Arabia were 1175482 million of Saudi Riyal and this figure reached at 1367620 million in 2011; that was 45.2 percent growth. In 2012 exports reached at 1456502 million of Saudi Riyal with the growth of 66.57 percent as compared to 2007. Composition of exports shows the dominance of mineral products and exports of these products are increasing regularly. After mineral products; the major part of exports is based on chemical products. Imports grew by 493450 million with the growth of 23.1 percent in 2011. From the year of 2007 to 2012, the major part of exports was based on chemical products and related material and on mineral fuels and this category was 87.1 percent of total exports. Petroleum oil and petroleum gases were the major commodities that were exported largely from the year of 2009 to 2012. 41.6 percent of import composition was based on the transport equipments, and machinery13.9 percent was based on food and beverages, live animals and tobacco (UN, 2011). The composition of imports shows the dominance of machinery and electronic equipments from the year of 2007 to 2012; that means that most of imports of Saudi Arabia are based on machinery and electronic equipments. Second item that is imported most by country is transportation equipments. Third item is base metals. The least purchased items are art items. VOLUME OF IMPORT AND EXPORT Figure 5: Imports and exports (IMF, 2012) Volume of exports was -0.119% in 2007, this volume came up to -4.562% in 2009. From the year of 2010 exports increased by 0.421 % and this increased volume reached up to 4.3 % till 2012. On the other hand; the large excess in imports’ volume has been encountered in 2007 which was 19.234 %, in 2008 volume decreased by 11.986%, in 2009 was 0.329%, and in 2010, it was 0.973%. In 2011, the volume of imports again started to increase by 3.54 % and then it went up further to 9.821% in 2012. Saudi Arabia has a competitive advantage in the oil sector because it is a large producer of oil and has considerable oil reserve in its land. BALANCE OF TRADE: Figure 6: BALANCE OF TRADE (IMF, 2012) Trade balance is the difference between imports and exports. It is considered as a major component of balance of payment of the country. Country has to face trade deficit if the imports exceed its exports. Trade balance of Saudi Arabia was 536,315 in 2007 which increased by 743727 in 2008. However, trade balance of the country decreased by 362,819 million of Saudi Riyal in 2009 due to the decreased imports and exports. In 2010 trade balance increased by 541050 and arrived at 873029 till the end of 2012. Saudi Arabia generates a significant amount of trade surplus on a regular basis particularly because of the massive oil revenues. Trade destination The major trading partners of the country are the United States of Asia, China, Japan, South Korea, India, France, Italy, England, Switzerland, Turkey, Thailand, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Egypt, Indonesia, Spain and Sweden; all these countries are major exporters of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia exports its goods to United States of Asia, Japan, South Korea, India, Taiwan, Italy, United States of East, Holland, Spain, South Africa, Thailand, France, Belgium, Indonesia, Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan. These countries are the main trade partners of Saudi Arabia and consumers of Saudi products and services. Saudi Arabia has close relations with oil consuming countries. Japan, United States, china, India and South Korea are the biggest receivers of Saudi’s exports. Japan, China and United States acquire 15% of Saudi exports, 11% is obtained by South Korea and 8.9% by India. The import origins of Saudi Arabia are Germany and Italy including China, India and South Korea. TRADING PARTNERS OF SAUDI ARABIA Figure 7: Major Importers of Goods and Services Saudi Arabia has strong relations with oil consuming countries. Japan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Italy and UAE are the major importer of Saudi Arabia’s goods and services, but the major exports are received by South Korea, Japan and Singapore. China, India and South Korea are the biggest receivers of Saudi’s exports. Japan, China and United States acquire 15% of Saudi exports, 11% is obtained by South Korea and 8.9% by India. The import origins of Saudi Arabia are Germany and Italy including China, India and South Korea. Figure 8: Major Exporters of Goods and Services The major exporters of the country are United States of Asia, China, Germany, Japan South Korea, UAE, India and France. It can be observed from figure 7 and 8 that Saudi Arabia’s imports are largely depending on countries with greater consumers of Saudi exports. Therefore; it can be said that Saudi Arabia has close relation with these countries because Saudi Arabia does not have to pay much for its imports. TRADE REGULATION: Saudi Arabia - due to its economic strategy of sincerity and liberalization – was embarked in 1990s. The country slowly and gradually reformed its strategy, and now the country is committed to its policy and trying to be less dependent on the exports of hydrocarbon. In 2005; Saudi Arabia get access to world trade organization. By doing this, country opened numerous sectors for smoothing procedures, cut red-tap, and competition. At the same time, Saudi Arabia was also supporting the uncompetitive sectors. In 2008; Saudi Arabia made many efforts to attract investors. In 2008; in order to attract the foreign investors Saudi Arabia announced state-owned assets’ privatization plan that was based on 10 years and acquired US $800, and water and power infrastructure, other companies with the national airline were also included in that plan. Saudi Arabia has an opportunity to do tariff free trade with Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Oman and Kuwait, and this is because of the membership of “Six-Country Custom Union of The Gulf Council”. According to the Doing Business report the country’s number is 23rd in terms of across border trading. Paying taxes is easy in Saudi Arabia due to the low tax rates. Taxes are the major components for the government income, but Saudi Arabia’s government income is not dependent on taxes. Mainly the government earns from the gas and oil. Therefore; tax rate in Saudi Arabia is lower. There was no value added and personal income tax in the year of 2009. Even industrial sector’s investors receive breaks in tax payments (Euro monitor, 2010). Saudi Arabia has close trading relation with India and it is known as 4rt trading partner of India. Saudi Arabia has two-way trade partnership with United States, and in 2012, the two-way trade has been reached at $74 billion. Oil and gas are the top imports of United States from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia also has a partnership with California and it is known as the 25th largest importer of its goods. In 2009 imports of Saudi Arabia were $ 598 million and in 2012, these imports reached up to $1.2 billion (Cal Chamber). Recent trade conflict Saudi Arabia has bilateral relationship with United States and had diplomatic relation since 1933 (Bush, 2008); both countries had temporary issues due to Arab Israeli conflicts and war on terror. In 2003 nine American were killed by terrorist in Riyadh but after the resolution of these conflicts the relation became stronger. In 2012, the mass of Saudi Arabian students was studying in United States. Saudi Arabia and United States share familiar concerns regarding the security of the region. Recently Saudi Arabia has no trade conflicts with any country. Even the country is supporting America in the war of terror. FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT Investments’ net inflow is recognized as foreign direct investment. It is the sum of capital equity, short term, long term capital and reinvestment of earnings. Foreign direct investment shows the inflow that comes from foreign investors. The foreign direct investment of Saudi Arabia is on decline the peak year for the foreign direct investment was 2008 and it started declining from 2009. FDI fell by 34.69 percent in 2010 and in 2012 this decline was 29.66 percent. Despite of all these fact Saudi Arabia is still the higher possessor of foreign direct investment in GGC. Refined petroleum products, chemical petrochemical industries, gas, Water and electricity supply, finance and insurance services, computers industries, and other industries are the sectors of foreign direct investments. United States of Africa, Kuwait, Japan, China, Germany, Bahrain, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Jordan, and Switzerland are the sources of FDI inflow (SAGIA, 2011). The flow of foreign direct investment is expected to increase by the year of 2017 The portfolio trend of the country is on the decline in 2007 portfolio investments were 20521 million Riyal, in 2008 were 6114 with decline rate of 7 %. In 2009, investments increased by 75520 with a growth rate of 11.35 %. However, new portfolio investment trend is again downward. There is a gradual decrease in portfolio investments, and this decrease is expected to be at $10.4 to $10.6 billion at the end of 2017 (Arab News, 2013). Foreign exchange earnings are largely based on the exports of oil and these earnings a deposited in Saudi Arabian monetary agency. Long-term foreign liabilities of the country can be problematic for the exchange rate. The average exchange rate is constant from 2007 to 2014, and that is 3.8. Trends in factor mobility- migration, borrowing, lending Total reserves of Saudi Arabia (includes Gold in US $) Total is a reserves account includes the rights of special drawing, holdings of foreign exchange, monetary gold, reserves of IMF members that are held by IMF. Total reserves also include the holding of monetary gold. 1n 2007; total reserves of Saudi Arabia were $ 309,288 million that increased in 2008 by $451279 million. These reserves decreased by 420984 in 2009 with the rate of 6.7% and increased by 459314 million with a growth rate of 9.1%. In 2010; this growth continued at the end of 2012. Reserves were 556,571 million in 2011 with a growth rate of 21.17%. This increased to 673,740 million by the end of 2012 with a growth rate of 21.05%. 2009 encountered significant decrease in total reserves of the country. Domestic lending of Saudi Arabia has improved due to the better condition of the economy, and it is expected to grow by 2013. Total foreign borrowing is 20% of GDP, but the short-term borrowings are high at the rate of 47. Public debts were 19% of GDP in 2008 which climb up to 22% in 2009. However these borrowings continued to decline from 2010 to 2014. The net flow of borrowings was $9997 million in 2008 which decrease in 2009 by $6005 million. The 2010 was the rising year for borrowings, and these net borrowings continued to decline at the year of 2014 (Matabadal, 2012). In 2013, the number of migrations were 9,060.4 thousand in Saudi Arabia, in which female migrants were 29%. The average annual rate of change in migration was 4.2% from 2002 to 2013. Estimated numbers of international migrants in 2010 were 7288,900 in Saudi Arabia. Exchange rate policies There are three types of exchange rate policies and that are fixed exchange rate, independent monetary policy, and full free-dome of the movement cross-border. The policy of Saudi Arabia is targeting the exchange rate. The economy of Saudi Arabia is based on foreign recipients therefore payments are made in US. Saudi Arabia is trying to link the Riyal to US dollar. Exchange rate regimes are fixed in the country. Nominal exchange rate and real exchange rate trends Real and Nominal Effective Exchange Rate Trend Of Saudi Riyal Due to the financial crisis, the real effective exchange rate was high. However it started decreasing after 2009. Real effective exchange rate in 2007 was 95.5. In 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 it was 93.1, 99.5, 96, and 98.64 respectively. The nominal effective exchange rate of riyal was 103.96 in 2008 that was much higher than 2007, in 2009, it was 98, in 2010 was 98.45, 98.62 and 98.44 was in 2011and 2012. Financial, exchange rate, and debt crisis Financial crisis had a great impact on different economies of the world including Saudi Arabia. Different countries were making efforts and strengthening the economy to manage the crisis. However, Saudi Arabia did not have to make any measurements for the support of banks foreign currency refinancing because the country is a net exporter. SAMA did foreign exchange swap with domestic countries only in order to meet the financial crisis. These crises also not had any impact on the debt currency. Government continued with its net external debt without any external debt on government. There was not any impact of the crisis on material of Saudi Arabia, and the domestic funding was also strong but the low demand of credit was encountered for projects. Many of the projects were re-estimated by taking these financial crises into account (Al-Hamidy, n.d). Conclusion and Recommendation: The report presents the social, physical, economic and political conditions of the country the GDP growth, inflation, unemployment trend in the country from the period of 2007 to 2012 have been discussed. Report also presents the trend of Current account, total imports and exports, trade compositions like main goods and services that are exported and imported, major trading partners, Trade regulation, FDI trends and source of FDI. Portfolio investment trends, foreign exchange and gold reserves, migration, borrowing, lending, Nominal exchange rate and real exchange rate trends have also been discussed in the report. In last financial crisis’ impact on Saudi Arabia has been presented. Saudi Arabia is facing human rights problem and country must take this problem into account and resolve it. It is recommended that the Saudi Arabia should review the regulatory framework to keep itself with financial development system. Moreover, the country should constitute approaches and promote exemplary and fair practices at the international level. Institutional investors’ regulators should pay attention towards strengthening the requirements for the processes of firms in order to increase investment in structured products. Securities market regulators should work closely with market participants in order to expand information regarding their underlying assets and securities products. References: Al-Hamidy, A. (n.d.). The global financial crisis: impact on Saudi Arabia. BIS. Retrieved March 21, 2014 from http://www.bis.org/publ/bppdf/bispap54u.pdf Al-Rasheed, M. (2013). A Most Masculine State: Gender, Politics and Religion in Saudi Arabia (Vol. 43). Cambridge University Press. Alturki, F. (2013). Saudi Arabia’s Economic Outlook. Jadwa Investment, Retrieved March 21, 2014 from http://www.csc.org.sa/Arabic/BusinessCouncils/BusinessCouncilsList/1/Documents/%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%80%20(13)%20%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%B3%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%8A%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%83/Econ%20bfg%2017Feb13%20SaudiJapan%20Business%20Council.pdf Arab News. (2013). Real GDP to grow by 4.4% in 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014 from http://www.arabnews.com/news/451666 Baker, A. (2013). In Saudi Arabia, social and political progress for women. Chorm, Retrieved March 21, 2014 from http://blog.chron.com/bakerblog/2013/08/in-saudi-arabia-social-and-political-progress-for-women/ Bebow, J. (2013). Euro Crisis Sees Reloading Of Germany’s Current Account Surplus. Social Europe journal. Retrieved March 21, 2014 from http://www.social-europe.eu/2013/06/euro-crisis-sees-reloading-of-germanys-current-account-surplus/ Bush, W. G. (2008). Presidents Radio Address. The White House, Retrieved March 21, 2014 from http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/05/20080517.html Business Recorder. (2014). Saudi Arabias 2013 GDP up 3.8 percent. Retrieved March 21, 2014 from http://www.brecorder.com/business-a-economy/189/1163342/ CalChamber. (n.d.). Trading Partner Portal: Saudi Arabia. Retrieved March 21, 2014 from http://www.calchamber.com/international/portals/Saudi Arabiarabia/pages/default.aspx Euro monitor. (2010). Business Environment: Saudi Arabia. Retrieved March 21, 2014 from http://www.globaltrade.net/international-trade-import-exports/f/business/pdf/Saudi-Arabia/Banking-and-Finance-Business-Environment-in-Saudi-Arabia.html?folderId=3201 Gulf Base. (2012). Saudi Arabia’s real GDP to grow at 3.3% in 2012. http://www.gulfbase.com/news/saudi-arabia-s-real-gdp-to-grow-at-3-3-in-2012/201573 Matabadal, A (2012). Country Report Saudi Arabia. Rabobank. Pendery, D. (2009). Three Top Economists Agree 2009 Worst Financial Crisis Since Great Depression; Risks Increase if Right Steps are Not Taken. Reuters, Retrieved March 21, 2014 from http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/02/27/idUS193520+27-Feb-2009+BW20090227 SADA. (2013). Is Saudi Arabia Stable?. Retrieved March 21, 2014 from http://carnegieendowment.org/2013/08/15/is-saudi-arabia-stable/gih4 SAGIA. (2011). Annual report on FDI Saudi Arabia. Retrieved March 21, 2014 from http://www.saudincc.org.sa/getattachment/47de8ea3-c4a3-47f9-bb54-22344f2610ce/IFC- World-Bank-Doing-Business.aspx Steve. P. and Lahan, G. (2011). Burning Oil to Keep Cool The Hidden Energy Crisis in Saudi Arabia. Chatham house, Retrieved March 21, 2014 from http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/Energy,%20Environment%20and%20Development/1211pr_lahn_stevens.pdf UN. (2011). Overview of Saudi Arabia. Retrieved March 21, 2014 from http://data.un.org/CountryProfile.aspx?crName=Saudi%20Arabia#Top Zwaya. (2014). Special authority soon to tackle unemployment. Retrieved March 21, 2014 from http://www.zawya.com/story/Saudi_Arabia_Special_authority_soon_to_tackle_unemployment-ZAWYA20140218041813/ APPENDIX Composition of imports: Section Title (millions of Saudi riyals) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012** Animals & Animal Products 11974 15386 13607 16012 20192 21197 Vegetables & Vegetable Products 17765 28091 21310 24939 28008 31324 Fats & Oils 2093 2656 2390 2765 4214 4084 Prepared Foods, Tobacco Products 12983 16066 15972 19486 22620 24609 Mineral Products 4004 7105 4659 7435 9239 10306 Chemical Products 25517 32717 31007 34781 41952 48209 Plastics & Rubber 10454 13217 12270 14532 18604 20979 Leather Products 873 1065 994 1022 1461 1685 Wood Products 2755 3110 2734 4564 5099 5927 Paper Products 5005 6454 5320 6441 7391 7535 Textiles & Textile Products 11640 13875 12656 13387 16938 18065 Clothing Accessories 1598 1836 1840 1986 2314 2775 Stone & Glass Products 4147 5421 5602 5757 6761 8044 Precious Metals, Jewelry 3264 5245 3213 4799 9232 11009 Base Metals 50829 66012 39538 49524 66225 80376 Machinery & Electrical Equipment 99740 117318 103093 99027 131988 154096 Transportation Equipment 59440 77620 62287 73628 77141 103544 Miscellaneous Instruments 7873 9656 9552 10548 11514 14300 Arms & Ammunition 1225 2653 3346 2790 3439 4342 Miscellaneous Manufactured Items 4845 6170 6801 7200 9015 10951 Art Items and Others 64 80 99 112 103 116 Total 338088 431753 358290 400735 493450 583473 Source: Central Department of Statistics and Information, Ministry of Economy and Planning Composation of exports Section Title 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012* Animals & Animal Products 3144 3694 4357 4809 5428 5535 Vegetables & Vegetable Products 879 1218 1218 1454 1567 1375 Fats & Oils 362 589 597 683 1196 1173 Prepared Foods, Tobacco Products 3623 3972 4579 4734 5135 5538 Mineral Products 771134 1055324 612358 808235 1192165 1266389 Chemical Products 31523 36422 29913 40855 62005 68342 Plastics & Rubber 23214 27009 24054 42731 54622 58492 Leather Products 471 381 313 466 496 445 Wood Products 187 262 189 163 174 199 Paper Products 3069 3078 3268 3862 4371 3753 Textiles & Textile Products 1579 1850 1610 2014 2423 2246 Clothing Accessories 46 53 52 54 49 43 Stone & Glass Products 1474 1746 1697 1617 1825 1995 Precious Metals, Jewelry 1424 3091 3337 1995 3880 3502 Base Metals 10022 11595 8665 8556 9755 10366 Machinery & Electrical Equipment 8921 11066 10851 9670 10668 10743 Transportation Equipment 12274 12842 12778 8201 10097 13884 Miscellaneous Instruments 287 236 370 584 705 508 Arms & Ammunition 3 13 51 210 110 146 Miscellaneous Manufactured Items 653 768 678 686 759 1459 Art Items and Others 114 273 174 206 190 369 Total 874403 1175482 721109 941785 1367620 1456502 Read More