Saudi Arabia’s imports fell an annual 5.0 percent in May, the seventh drop in a row, while non-oil exports dropped 5.1 percent, their first fall since March 2013, data from the Central Department of Statistics and Information showed.

Nonoil exports account for around 12 percent of overall exports of Saudi Arabia.

Analysts polled by Reuters in April forecast Saudi Arabia’s current account surplus would come in at 16.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2014 and 11.9 percent in 2015.

A report from Jadwa Investment released earlier said nonoil exports fell in April, but imports remained high.

It said that much of the decline in exports was due to lower exports of petrochemicals and plastic, which together have accounted for 65 percent of total nonoil exports since the start of the year.

New letters of credit opened suggest a slowdown in imports in the coming months, the report said.

It said the value of letters of credit opened over the first four months of the year is 3 percent higher than in the corresponding period of 2013.

Another survey published recently showed that growth in Saudi Arabia’s nonoil business activity rose to a five-month high in June, bolstered by strong growth in output and new orders.

The seasonally adjusted SABB HSBC Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers Index increased to 59.2 points last month from 57.0 points in May. Readings above 50 denote expansions in activity, while readings below that point to contractions.

The subindex for output came in at 64.9 points, a 26-month high, while the new orders subindex climbed to 66.9 points in June from 63.6 points reported in May. The increase in new export orders also accelerated.

Employment growth, with a subindex reading of 52.5 points, rose at the fastest pace since January, which was reflected in a faster pace of growth in staffing costs.

Price inflation was also faster than in recent months, with the input prices subindex up to 54.2 points and the output price gauge increasing to 50.8 points from below 50 in May.