US emerges as top destination for Oman's non-oil exports in 2022

The United States has emerged

as Oman's biggest non-oil export destination this year, ahead of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Oman’s non-oil exports to the US surged more than 96 per cent in 2022 amounting to Ro540.6mn in the first seven months of the year compared to Ro275.3mn for the same period of 2021, official data showed.

The US and Oman have a free trade agreement (FTA) that lowers trade barriers between the two countries. Since taking effect in 2009, the FTA has been benefiting both countries by boosting bilateral trade and investment.

Helped by the post-pandemic recovery and improved demand for Omani products in the US, India and other markets, the sul

tanate’s total non-oil exports jumped by 54.5 per cent to Ro4.41bn during January – July period of 2022 compared to Ro2.855bn recorded in the same period of 2021, the data released by National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) showed.

The burgeoning demand for Omani exports suggests that the sultanate’s economy is well on a recovery path. Oman’s nominal GDP grew at a solid pace of

more than 30 per cent in the first half of this year.

Oman's non-oil shipments to India more than doubled to Ro471mn in the first seven

months of this year as compared to Ro229.9mn recorded in 2021.

Exports to GCC markets

Within the GCC markets, exports to the UAE increased 1.7 per cent to Ro477.4mn during the first seven months of 2022 against Ro469.4mn in the same period of last year.

Exports to Saudi Arabia grew by 45.9 per cent to Ro454.9mn in the seven months period ended July 31, 2022.

The NCSI data suggests that the strong recovery in non-oil exports is broad-based for almost

all of Oman’s major trading part

ners. The strong export performance shows that Omani exporters are making good recovery in attracting overseas orders. The sultanate’s non-oil

exports to Qatar grew by 44 per cent to Ro190.8mn in the first seven months of this year against Ro132.6mn in the same period a year ago.

Omani non-oil exports to rest other countries also jumped by more than 58 per cent during the first seven months of 2022 to Ro2.275bn against Ro1.436bn in the same period of 2021. As per the NCSI data,

Oman’s mineral products export grew by 165 per cent to Ro1.287bn in the first seven months of 2022 from Ro485.7mn in the corresponding period of 2021. Shipments for chemical products also surged 40 per cent to Ro841.1mn this year in comparison with Ro600.8mn in the same period of last year.

With increased production capacity of Oman’s downstream industries, exports of plastics, rubber and their items grew more than 57 per cent to hit Ro716mn value in the first seven months of 2022 compared to Ro455.8mn in the same period of 2021.

Base metals and their articles accounted for Ro914.5mn worth of exports during the seven months period this year, an increase of more than 32 per cent compared to Ro690mn recorded in the previous year.

Oman’s re-exports, by contrast, declined 13.7 per cent in the first seven months of 2022 at Ro725.2mn compared to Ro839.9mn recorded in 2021, according to the NCSI data. The decline in re-exports was caused mainly due to reduced transshipments of transport equipments and instruments.

Oman’s total non-oil exports surged 54.5 per cent to Ro4.41bn during January – July period of 2022 compared to Ro2.855bn recorded in the same period of 2021