Saudi Arabia’s service exports grew by 16.8 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2025, reaching SAR 66.1 billion compared with SAR 56.6 billion in the same period of 2024, according to international trade data released by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). The figures provide one of the clearest quarterly readings yet of how the Kingdom’s non-oil economic transformation is translating into measurable export growth across a range of service sectors.
Travel services led all categories by a substantial margin, contributing SAR 39.5 billion to total service exports in the quarter. Personal travel services account for approximately 92.2 percent of that figure, reflecting the sustained growth in inbound tourism and religious visitation that has materially altered Saudi Arabia’s revenue composition over the past several years. Transportation services ranked second with SAR 10.5 billion, with air transport representing 40.6 percent of the category total, followed by sea and land transport at lower respective shares.
A Broadening Base Across Emerging Service Sectors
The GASTAT data points to expanding contributions from service categories that sit beyond the headline travel figures, signalling a broader shift in the Kingdom’s export capability. Government services contributed SAR 2.8 billion for the quarter, followed by other business services at SAR 2.6 billion — a category where professional and administrative consulting represents 51 percent of the total, reflecting growing international demand for Saudi-based advisory expertise.
Communications, computer, and information services reached SAR 2.3 billion in Q4 2025, with communications alone accounting for 51.4 percent of that figure. Construction services added SAR 1.8 billion, and the remaining export value was distributed across financial services, manufacturing services, personal, cultural and entertainment services, and insurance and pensions — a spread that reflects the diversification of Saudi Arabia’s commercial capabilities across sectors that were historically smaller contributors to export revenues.
Falling Imports Signal Growing Domestic Capacity
While service exports rose sharply, Saudi Arabia’s imports of services fell by 2.6 percent year-on-year in Q4 2025 to SAR 119.6 billion. Transportation services recorded the highest import value at SAR 33.5 billion, with maritime transport accounting for 45.6 percent. Travel service imports reached SAR 25.2 billion — personal travel at 93 percent — while other business services came in at SAR 17.5 billion, and construction services at SAR 16.4 billion.
The concurrent rise in exports and decline in imports compresses the service trade deficit and reflects an economy where domestic providers are increasingly capable of meeting demand that was previously sourced from outside the Kingdom. As tourism infrastructure matures, digital connectivity deepens, and the business services sector broadens, the Q4 2025 data offers a concrete indicator of the structural economic change that Vision 2030 has been advancing across Saudi Arabia’s service economy.
