Qatar’s economy shows resilience with 1% growth in Q2: official data

Qatar’s gross domestic product experienced a 1 percent growth in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year, according to official figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority.

The year-on-year GDP estimates, calculated at constant prices, reached 170 billion Qatari riyals ($46.7 billion) during the second quarter. This outpaced the revised estimates for the same period in 2022, which stood at 168.4 billion riyals.

However, the GDP at current prices faced a downturn, declining by 13.7 percent in the second quarter of 2023, totaling 186.3 billion riyals. This contrasts with the estimate for the same quarter in the previous year, which reported a figure of 216 billion riyals.

The real gross value added of non-mining and quarrying activities, which make up 62 percent of Qatar’s real GDP in the second quarter at 104.72 billion riyals, increased by 0.1 percent during this period.

Meanwhile, the real GVA of mining and quarrying, making up 38 percent of real GDP at 65.37 billion riyals, increased by 2.33 percent during this period.

On the other hand, the nominal GVA of non-mining and quarrying activities, representing 60.8 percent of the current price GDP, amounted to 113.3 billion riyals in the second quarter, declining by 3.9 percent compared to the estimates for the same period in 2022.

The nominal GVA for mining and quarrying also dropped by 25.5 percent in the second quarter, amounting to 73 billion riyals.

According to the Gulf Economic Update report by the World Bank, the Gulf Cooperation Council economy is estimated to grow by 3.6 percent in 2024 and 3.7 percent in 2025.

Saudi Arabia’s GDP will show a contraction of 0.5 percent in 2023 before reporting a recovery of 4.1 percent in 2024 to reflect expansions of oil and non-oil sectors.

The UAE’s economic activity is expected to drop to 3.4 percent in 2023. Oil GDP growth is expected to be 0.7 percent in 2023, but it is expected to rebound rapidly in 2024.

Furthermore, due to a drop in oil output, Kuwaiti economic growth is expected to fall by 0.8 percent in 2023. Oil GDP growth is estimated to fall by 3.8 percent in 2023 before recovering in 2024.

The economy of Oman is expected to decline in 2023, but it is forecast to strengthen in the medium term. Overall growth is set to slow to 1.4 percent in 2023 as oil output declines, while non-oil industries are likely to underpin growth, expanding by more than 2 percent.

This year’s weaker performance is driven primarily by lower oil sector activities, which are expected to contract by 3.9 percent, to reflect the successive production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, and the global economic slowdown, according to the report.

However, the reduction in oil sector activities will be compensated for by the non-oil sectors, which are expected to grow by 3.9 percent in 2023 and 3.4 percent in the medium term, supported by sustained private consumption, strategic fixed investments, and accommodative fiscal policy.