The trade surplus of Oman decreased by 27 percent to 6.09 billion Omani rials ($15.8 billion) by the end of 2025 due to the lower oil and gas export earnings offsetting gains in non-oil shipments and re-exports.
The Oman News Agency reported that the preliminary data from the National Centre for Statistics and Information indicated that the surplus dropped from 8.34 billion rials a year earlier, with total merchandise exports declining 7.1 percent to 23.26 billion rials.
The weaker trade balance reports softer hydrocarbon revenues in a year marked by lower global crude prices. Benchmark Brent Crude declined to approximately $69 a barrel in 2025, compared to about $80 a barrel in 2024, with the world supply exceeding demand and inventories growing.
The ONA report stated that “Conversely, total registered merchandise imports into Oman rose 2.7 percent to 17.167 billion rials, compared with 16.713 billion rials during the same period in 2024.”
The agency also noted that the reduction in the export of merchandise in Oman was largely influenced by the decline in oil and gas exports, which had been 14.51 billion rials by the year-end of 2025 compared to the 17.11 billion rials a year prior.
The non-oil merchandise exports rose 7.5 percent to 6.7 billion rials by the end of December, in comparison to 6.23 billion rials during the same period of 2024.
The re-exports also soared to almost 2.06 billion rials by the end of December and registered an increase of over 20.3 percent as compared to an estimated 1.71 billion rials in the same month last year.
The UAE dominates the non-oil export destinations by the end of December, with shipments valued at more than 1.31 billion rials, up 25.3 percent compared with the same period in 2024.
It also spearheaded re-export trade in Oman, where re-exports stood at 724 million rials and were the highest source of imports in Oman, at over 4.15 billion rials.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia had the second largest non-oil export, totalling about 1.07 billion rials after India, which had 699 million rials.
Iran ranked second in the re-exports at 365 million rials, and the UK was positioned at 207 million rials. China, on the import side, was the second with close to 1.94 billion rials, and India was the third with close to 1.45 billion rials.
