Recently released data highlights the extent to which Covid-19 hammered Saudi Arabia’s key oil export revenues. These tumbled by 40% in 2020 to just $121.9bn, well below the recent-low of $136.9bn in 2016 at the height of the previous price downturn, helping to push the kingdom to a $78bn budget deficit (MEES, 12 March).
Despite the size of the drop, oil still accounted for 69.5% of total export revenue last year, underlining the extent to which Saudi Arabia’s export earnings are exposed to commodity price volatility. (CONTINUED - 222 WORDS)
