In 2000 foreign worker remittances, approximately $18 billion per year, continued to drain the current account. There are roughly 6–7 million foreign workers and their families living in the country, and the remittances cause the currency to be subject to a mild devaluating pressure. Strong oil exports in the early 2000s, however, kept the current account in surplus.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2001 the purchasing power parity of Sa'udi Arabia's exports was $66.9 billion while imports totaled $29.7 billion resulting in a trade surplus of $37.2 billion.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports that in 2001 Sa'udi Arabia had exports of goods totaling $73 billion and imports totaling $28.6 billion. The services credit totaled $5.18 billion and debit $19.3 billion.