3.39 PM Thursday, 28 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:57 06:11 12:27 15:53 18:37 19:51
28 March 2024

Qatari nominal GDP up 28.4%

Published
By Staff

Strong oil prices allied with higher gas exports to boost Qatar’s nominal GDP by nearly 28.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2011 while real GDP expanded by around 16 per cent, according to government data.

From about QR110.4 billion in the first quarter of 2010, GDP in current prices swelled to nearly QR141.8 billion in the first quarter of 2011, the Qatari Statistics Authority said in its latest quarterly brief.

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2010, GDP grew by around 12.2 per cent from QR126.4 billion, the report showed.

A breakdown showed the hydrocarbon sector rocketed by nearly 44.2 per cent to QR81.1 billion from QR56.2 billion, the figures showed.

“The sharp increase in value was a result of the combined effect of higher volume of oil and gas production and higher prices.”

The manufacturing sector widened by 19.7 per cent to QR14.1 billion while nominal growth stood at 20.1 per cent in the transport sector and about 10.4 per cent in the finance, insurance, real estate and business services.

As for 2010, the report put real GDP growth at about 16 per cent while in current prices it shot up by 30.1 per cent to QR463.49 billion.

Qatar, the top LNG supplier, has recorded one of the highest GDP growth rates in the world over the past few years because of a rapid rise in gas exports.

In a report last week, the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund said the country’s real GDP could leap by nearly 20 per cent this year because of high LNG exports and a sharp rise in oil prices.

“Qatar’s real GDP is projected to surge by around 20 per cent this year against growth of 16.3 per cent in 2010 as a result of high oil prices and expansion in its LNG exports and infrastructure projects,” it said.

A small OPEC crude oil producer, Qatar announced in late 2010 that it had completed projects to pump nearly 77 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas to become the world’s dominant LNG exporter.

The country has pumped over $100 billion into projects to tap its mammoth North Field, which spreads over 6,000 square kilometers across the Qatari and Iranian water and is considered the world’s largest single reservoir of non-associated gas, with reserves of nearly 25 trillion cubic metres.