Doha, (Business News Report)|| Qatar’s trade balance continues its big leaps, to record in February an increase of 69.5% compared to the same month last year 2021.
According to official data issued by the Qatar Planning and Statistics Authority, the trade balance in February reached 22.4 billion riyals ($6.15 billion) on an annual basis, supported by the growth of exports and the rise in international gas prices.
The value of Qatari exports, which include exports of local origin and re-exports, amounted to 31.9 billion riyals, “an increase of 54.6% compared to February 2021, and a decrease of 10.3% compared to last January.”
According to data from the Qatari Ministry of Planning, Qatar’s trade balance (the difference between total exports and imports) last month recorded a surplus of more than 22 billion riyals, compared to 13.22 billion riyals ($3.65 billion) in the same month of 2021.
The improvement of Qatar’s trade surplus on an annual basis is an indication of the Qatari economy’s recovery from the pandemic and improvement of global demand for natural gas on a monthly basis.
However, the trade surplus decreased by 13.5% in February, compared to a surplus of 25.89 billion riyals ($7.15 billion) in last January.
The government report showed an increase in the value of merchandise imports by 28.1%, to reach about 9.5 billion riyals on an annual basis, while it decreased by 1.9% on a monthly basis.
By annual comparison, exports of liquefied natural gas, condensate, propane, butane and others rose to about 18.9 billion riyals, a rate of 41.7%. Exports of petroleum oils and oils of crude bituminous mineral materials increased by 120% to nearly 5.5 billion riyals.
China ranked first in the countries of destination for Qatar’s exports during the past month, with a rate of 22.2%, or 7.1 billion riyals, followed by Japan with 5.3 billion and 16.6%, then South Korea with 3.7 billion riyals, or 11.7%.
In terms of imports by main countries of origin, China came at the forefront of Qatar’s imports with 1.7 billion riyals, or 17.7%, then the United States with 9.9%, equivalent to 900 million riyals, followed by Italy with 700 million riyals, or 7.3%.
It is noteworthy that Qatar’s merchandise trade balance surplus rose in 2021 by 130.4% to QR 215.2 billion on an annual basis, supported by the growth of exports and the rise in demand for gas.
Qatar is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, and has a stable market share compared to other exporters.
