Qatar economy expected to witness 2011 real GDP growth of 18.7%

15/02/2012 12:11 AST

Qatar continues to be one of the world largest growing economy, managing to report an 30.1 percent increase in nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and an estimated 16.6 percent growth in Real GDP for 2010. It benefits from its large natural gas reserves and oil reserves, which helped Qatar avoid reporting negative growth due to the financial crisis. Qatar nominal GDP grew at an astonishing 20.2 percent on a CAGR basis during the period 2006-10, while real GDP reported a CAGR growth rate of 16.0 percent during the same period. Qatar GDP measured at real prices reached 283.9 billion Qatari riyals, while GDP measured at current prices reached 463.0 billion riyals. Hence GDP per capita reached 74,206 US dollars in 2010, as compared to $58,393 in 2009. Qatar GDP has been marching at a fast pace since 1999 as the economy utilizes its hydrocarbon sector. In 1999, Qatar GDP was 45.1 billion riyals, and has gone up by 927 percent since then.

The increase in GDP of Qatar in 2010 is driven by hydrocarbon sector which make up for more than half of the country's GDP. Oil and Gas sector contribution to GDP reached 239.3 billion riyals in 2010, up 50.3 percent from 2009, this is due to the completion of major natural gas projects including LNG 6 and 7 trains which increased the capacity of LNG to 77 million tons and because of better oil prices which witnessed Qatar Marine increasing 42.6 percent during 2010. Oil and Gas sector maintain a 51.7 percent share of the GDP, the share increased from 44.8 percent enjoyed in 2009. However, Qatar is working on diversifying the GDP through various sectors including industry, construction, and real estate.

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Al Watan