Introduction
As part of the increasing, continuous and growing attention the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) pays to all its statistical operations, it conducts the Water Traffic Statistics publication at the level of administrative regions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to be a reference for all ministries and governmental departments and institutions. This Publication aims to provide basic data for planners, development policy makers and decision-makers, as it draws its data from the records of the partners
GASTAT extends its thanks and appreciation to all its partners and clients from the concerned parties for their cooperation in the completion of this publication. In addition, GASTAT hopes that everyone will provide it with suggestions and feedback on this publication via e-mail (info@stats.gov.sa), as this will improve the content of the publication and add further developments to future publications.
Methodology:
GASTAT implements all its statistical works in accordance with a unified methodology that comply with the nature of each statistical product. It relies on the Manual of the Statistical Procedures which conforms with the procedures adopted by the international organizations. The statistical product goes through eight connected stages, in addition to a ninth stage (the comprehensive "management" stage), which are as follows:
The first three stages: (Scope, design, and organization) are collaborative stages between GASTAT and its clients from the different developmental entities. However, the fourth stage (Data collection) is a collaborative stage between GASTAT and the statistical community either households or establishments, in order to complete data and information. On the other hands, the rest of the stages are considered statistical stages carried out by GASTAT, including (tabulation, revision, and publication). After that, the eighth stage (Assessment)is done through collaboration with clients again, whereas the (Management) stage is an administrative and the organizational stage is connected with all stages. These stages have been applied in Water Traffic Statistics as follows:
First Stage: Scope:
The first step in the process of producing the Water Traffic Statistics. It is also the first collaborative stage between GASTAT, Saudi Ports Authority and Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority. At this stage, workshops and meetings have been held between GASTAT and concerned bodies to reach an understanding of the needs and to identify the requirements, while taking account of all input and recommendations to ensure achievement of all the objectives of Water Traffic Statistics, which are summarized as follows:
- The key objective of Water Traffic Statistics process implemented by GASTAT is to provide up-to-date statistics and indicators on water traffic, which will help decision makers to know and understand:
- The ships arriving at Kingdom ports according to the country of registration.
- Provide updated data on the goods unloaded in the Kingdom ports by month and port, as well as the goods unloaded in the ports by type
- Create a broad base of statistics and using them as a reliable basis for conducting water traffic studies and research
- Use such statistics for local, regional and international benchmarking purposes.
Second Stage: Design:
The stage of designing statistical work as a whole product. Through this stage, the statistical community, the method and tools for collecting data are defined. In all these procedures, clients are involved and their consultations are used to meet all the requirements and ensure that they are met in the statistical product.
The key outputs of this stage are:
- Statistical Community:
2.Statistics Sources:
Water Traffic Statistics rely in its data on the administrative records of Saudi Ports Authority and Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority as a major source of data, which are provided to GASTAT on an annual basis for the calculation and issuance of its indicators in Water Traffic Statistics publication.
Administrative records refer to data and information recorded and updated with Saudi Ports Authority and Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority on Water Traffic Statistics and generated through the electronic official registration and documentation processes followed by these entities.
3. Identification of Data Required from Administrative Records:
GASTAT determined the nature of data required from the Saudi Ports Authority and Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority, which are a major source of maritime transport data according to a number of variables, in terms of the movement of ships and cargo that were loaded and unloaded, together with other related variables.
4. Survey Terminology and Concepts:
The terms, definitions and classifications are based on international standards, specifically the Reference Manual of Water Traffic Statistics of IMO. That manual provides better understanding of definitions and classifications, description of data integration and all necessary basic information in water traffic statistics.
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Terminology related to Water Traffic Statistics |
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Ship Traffic |
The traffic of marine vessels that transport all types of goods and passengers. |
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Terminal |
Operated by a carrier or terminal operator and contains goods handling equipment, shaded areas and other ground structures used in the loading, storage, transportation and unloading of goods or the arrival and boarding of passengers traveling through ports. |
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Goods Handling |
An operation or service provided by a port that is related to loading or unloading of goods from ships. |
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Solid Bulk Cargo |
Any substance other than a liquid or a gas, consisting of a group of particles, granules, or large pieces that is generally uniform in composition, that is loaded directly to the ship cargo hold. |
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Liquid Bulk Cargo |
Any material that can flow freely and is usually loaded and unloaded from a ship using pipelines and pumping stations. |
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General Cargo |
All goods except for motor vehicles and equipment, livestock, bulk goods, and goods loaded in containers, platforms or trailers. |
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Containers |
Large cargo units with standard dimensions in which products and raw materials are shipped and stored during the transport of goods by sea in specialized vessels. |
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RORO |
Wheeled cargo such as trains and cars of various types that are transported via specialized ships and are not loaded in containers. |
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Livestock (in tons) |
The weight of non-living livestock that have been unloaded or loaded and are chilled or frozen, including different types of meat and shipments. |
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Livestock (by number of heads) |
The number of livestock that have been loaded or unloaded on special ships for live livestock of all kinds. |
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Transshipment |
Handling containers and goods from ships to the port temporarily to transfer them later to their final destination through other ships. |
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Resto |
Unloading the container on the berth or on the same ship and re-stowing the container on the same ship. |
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Indicator |
Definition |
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Ships arriving at Saudi ports by country of registration and port. |
An indicator that measures transport of all types of goods and passengers by ships for each port according to the ship's registration country. |
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Goods Unloaded at commercial ports by Type |
An indicator that measures the quantities of goods (in tons) that are unloaded at commercial ports only by type of goods. |
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Goods unloaded and loaded in industrial ports by type |
An indicator that measures the quantities of goods (in tons) that are unloaded and loaded in industrial ports only by type of goods. |
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Goods unloaded at ports by month |
An indicator that measures the quantities of goods (in tons) that are unloaded in industrial and commercial ports by month. |
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Goods Handled in Ports by Type |
An indicator that measures the quantities of goods (in tons) by type of goods handled. |
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Passengers traffic (Arrivals - Departures) by Ports |
An indicator that measures the inbound and outbound passenger traffic at industrial and commercial ports. |
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Container traffic (imports - exports) by port |
An indicator that measures the traffic of inbound and outbound containers in (standard unit) at industrial and commercial ports. |
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Ship Traffic in Ports by Month |
An indicator that measures the traffic of ships transporting all types of goods and passenger by month for each port. |
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Transshipment goods unloaded and loaded at commercial ports |
An indicator that measures the containers (in tons) and (standard units) and goods (in tons) handled from ships to the port in-transit before being transferred to their final destination through other ships at commercial ports only. |
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The area of ports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |
An indicator that measures the area (in square kilometers) of the ports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. |
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The number of port berths in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |
An indicator that measures the number of berths for each port in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. |
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The number of port terminals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |
An indicator that measures the number of terminals for each port in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. |
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The capacity of Kingdom ports |
An indicator that measures the capacity (in tons) for each port in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. |
5. Indicators:
Water Traffic Statistics indicators were calculated according to the data sources, as follows:
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Data Source |
Entity |
Data & Indicators |
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Administrative Records
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Saudi Ports Authority / Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority |
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6. Adopted Statistical Classifications:
Classification is defined as an arranged set of related categories used for data collection based on similarity. It is the basis for collecting and publishing data in all statistical fields, such as (economic activity, products, expenditures, occupations or health, ... Etc.) It allows for classifying data and information into meaningful categories to produce useful statistics. That being said, data collection requires precise and methodological arrangement based on their commonalities as to produce reliable and comparable statistics. Maritime Transport Statistics are subject to international standards in terms of data collection and classification. Water Traffic Statistics depend on the following classification:
National Code of Countries and Nationalities
A statistical classification based on the International Standard (ISO 3166_Country codes), a standard issued by the International Organization for Standardization (a UN organization), which assigns numerical and alphanumeric codes to the world's 248 countries, based on the classification of countries. The classification is used in Water Traffic Statistics to classify individuals into Saudis and non-Saudis.
7. Coverage:
7.1 Spatial coverage: Water Traffic Statistics cover the following ports:
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Ports of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |
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Jeddah Islamic Port |
King Abdul Aziz Port - Dammam |
King Fahd Industrial Port in Yanbu |
Jubail Commercial Port |
King Fahd Industrial Port in Jubail |
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Yanbu Commercial Port |
Jizan port |
Duba Port |
Ras Al Khair port |
King Abdullah port |
7.2 Temporal coverage: Water Traffic Statistics data are based on the reference year 2021.
Third Stage: Organization:
It is the final preparation stage. In this stage, the required workflow procedures are established for preparing the Water Traffic Statistics, starting with the "collection stage" and ending with the assessment stage and the organization and grouping of such procedures. The optimal sequence of those procedures is chosen to reach a methodology that achieves the objectives of Water Traffic Statistics. In this stage, those procedures were described and documented to facilitate any updates to them in future rounds. The statistical workflow procedures were tested and examined to ensure their compliance with the requirements of preparing the Air Transport Statistics Publication in its final form, approve the procedures of the statistical workflow, and develop a roadmap for implementation.
Fourth stage: Collection:
GASTAT coordinated with Saudi Ports Authority and Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority, to obtain data of Water Traffic Statistics publication, which was maintained in GASTAT databases and audited and reviewed in accordance with the scientific statistical method and the recognized quality standards.
Fifth stage: Tabulation:
At this stage, the water traffic data were tabulated, processed and analyzed as follows:
- Sorting and arranging data into different groups or categories in sequential order.
- Summarizing detailed data into main points or data.
- Combining many pieces of data and make them interconnected.
- Processing incomplete or missing data.
- Processing illogical data.
- Converting data into statistically significant data.
- Organizing, displaying and interpreting data.
Further, data is presented in appropriate tables, to be summarized, understood and comprehended easily. This also facilitates drawing results from such data and comparing it with other data, to reach statistical implications. This is to make it easier refer to such tabulated data, and in case of any observations, they are sent to the data owners to address them.
Sixth stage: Revision
First: Data Output Validation:
After processing and tabulating data collected in the fifth stage and verifying its integrity, GASTAT calculates and draws the results, after which it uploads and stores them on the database, and then the final review and approval processes are conducted.
Second: Dealing with confidential data:
Pursuant to Royal Decree No. 23 dated 07/12/1397 AH, GASTAT is committed to the full confidentiality of all collected data and to not using it except for statistical purposes. Therefore, data has been protected in GASTAT data servers.
Seventh Stage: Publication
First: Preparing Results for Publishing:
In this Stage, GASTAT downloaded the data results from the database of Water Traffic Statistics, coordinated, organized, and reviewed data of administrative records contained in Water Traffic Statistics. Publication tables and graphs of data and indicators were prepared, and descriptive and methodological data were added to them in Arabic and English.
Second: Preparing Media Material and Announcing the Publication’s Publishing Date:
After announcing the publication's publishing date on its official website at the beginning of the calendar year, GASTAT prepares the required media materials to announce the publication's publishing on all media outlets, as well as its social media platforms. The publication is published on the official website in various open data formats, i.e. Excel. This guarantees circulation and provision of access to all clients and parties interested in water traffic statistics.
Third: Communicating with clients and providing them with the publication:
GASTAT gives great importance to communicating with clients who are users of its data. Therefore, GASTAT contacts clients upon publishing the Water Traffic Statistics Publication and provide them with it. GASTAT also receives questions and enquiries from clients regarding the publication and its results through various communication channels. Clients can contact GASTAT to request data. Questions and inquiries are received via:
- The Authority's official website: www.stats.gov.sa
- The Authority's official e-mail address: info@stats.gov.sa
- Client Support e-mail address: cs@stats.gov.sa
- Official visit to the GASTAT headquarters in Riyadh or one of its branches in the Kingdom.
- Formal letters.
- Statistical Telephone by dialing (920020081)
Eighth Stage: Assessment
After the publication is published and received by all GASTAT’s clients, the clients are contacted again in this stage which allows for assessing the whole statistical process with the aim of constant improvement to obtain high-quality data. The proposed future improvements may include methodologies, processes, systems, statistical researchers’ skills and statistical frameworks. This stage is carried out in collaboration with data users and GASTAT’s clients through a number of steps:
First: Collecting Measurable Assessment Inputs:
The most important comments and feedback are collected and documented from their sources in all stages, including the feedback collected and documented during collection process, such as: Comments and remarks provided by data collectors and their supervisors. Some data are collected and documented in the Revision Stage, such as the comments of specialists concerned with revising, auditing and analyzing data collected from administrative records. Finally, comments and feedback provided by data users are collected and documented after publication, in addition to the feedback collected from media platforms or clients’ feedback received by GASTAT through its main channels.
Second: Conducting the assessment:
Collected assessment inputs are analyzed, and the results of this analysis are compared with pre-anticipated results. Accordingly, potential improvements and solutions are identified and discussed with experts and stakeholders. In this stage, the clients’ use of the results of the Water Traffic Statistics and their satisfaction with it are measured. Based on that, recommendations are developed to enhance the quality of the results of the next Water Traffic Statistics publications.
Ninth Stage: Management:
A comprehensive stage spanning over all the stages of producing the Water Traffic Statistics publication. This stage determines the general production plan, including the feasibility study, risk management, means of funding, disbursement mechanisms, as well as the development performance indicators, quality parameters, human resources map necessary for production, following up on the execution of tasks assigned to all departments in every stage, and preparing reports to ensure that GASTAT fulfills its commitments towards its clients.
