The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries earned $619 billion in oil revenue in 2025, down $32 billion from the previous year, according to data from OPEC’s Annual Statistical Bulletin released this month. The decline marks the third consecutive year of falling earnings for the 12-member cartel, whose revenues have dropped steadily from a peak of $828 billion in 2022.
A Prolonged Downturn
OPEC’s revenue trajectory tells a stark story of diminishing returns. After surging in 2022 on the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and post-pandemic demand recovery, the group’s combined oil income fell to $678 billion in 2023, then $651 billion in 2024, and now $619 billion in 2025. The slide has been driven by falling crude prices — Brent averaged roughly $69 per barrel in 2025, down from about $80 in 2024 — alongside production limits the group imposed to prop up prices and slower economic growth in key consuming markets.
Saudi Arabia remained OPEC’s top earner with $213 billion in 2025 oil revenue, followed by Iraq at $88 billion and the United Arab Emirates at $73 billion. Kuwait earned $61 billion, Nigeria $54 billion, and Iran approximately $45.3 billion despite operating under intensified U.S. sanctions.
Fractures Within the Cartel
The revenue decline comes as OPEC faces mounting internal pressures. The UAE announced in late April that it would leave OPEC effective May 1, 2026, becoming the largest oil producer to exit the organization. CNBC reported that UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said the departure was based on a review of the country’s production policy and future capacity plans. The exit followed Angola’s departure in 2024 and years of tensions over production quotas.
In an effort to manage markets, seven OPEC+ countries agreed on May 4 to increase production by 188,000 barrels per day in June, a modest step-up following a 206,000 barrel-per-day increase in May.
Uncertain Outlook
The U.S. Energy Information Administration had forecast OPEC crude oil export revenues would fall to $455 billion in 2025 and $410 billion in 2026, though the EIA’s figures measure only crude exports and differ methodologically from OPEC’s own broader revenue calculations. Oil prices have surged in recent months amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran near the Strait of Hormuz, introducing fresh uncertainty into the revenue outlook for a cartel that now counts one fewer member among its ranks.
