Saudi Arabia ranked first globally in terms of the value of dates exports in 2021 according to the TradeMap of the International Trade Center. The value of Saudi dates exports in 2021 stood at SR1.2 billion. The Kingdom has also realized the highest annual growth rate (12.5%) of exports over the past five years with exports entering 113 countries. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization congratulated Saudi Arabia for this achievement and ranking first globally in exporting dates. The National Center for Palms and Dates, in a statement, stressed that the achievement reflects the interest and care of the wise leadership in enhancing non-oil exports, developing the work system in planting and improving the production of palms, and the leading role of partners, mainly the producers and exporters of dates. The center noted that Saudi Vision 2030 has placed much attention to the palms and dates sector through its development and sustainability, where it worked early on preparing and implementing programs to develop this sector that increased its contribution to the GDP. The center also said that efforts focused on integrating exerted national efforts by relevant government institutions, producers and exporters of dates to develop the value chains, improve the quality and quantity of production, facilitate the exportation procedures, increase the efficiency of marketing dates, encourage investments, provide necessary data and studies, improve the efficiency of supply chains, and boost the human and institutional capacity. The value of palms and dates in the Kingdom reached nearly SR7.5 billion, 12 percent of the agricultural gross product and 0.4 of the non-oil gross product. The number of palm trees reached 33 million, representing 27 percent of the total number of palm trees in the world. — SPA
