Qatar Trade Surplus in February 2017 Rises 74% To QR12.3 Billion

March 26, 2017

Qatar's trade balance registered a surplus of QR12.3 billion in February 2017, an impressive 74-percent increase from a year ago and a 12.1-percent hike from January, 2017.

According to exports and imports data released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS) on Sunday, the country registered exports worth QR20.5 billion and imports worth QR8.2 billion in February.

While exports recorded a year-on-year jump of 22.5 percent and a month-on-month increase of 0.8 percent, imports showed a 15.4-percent decline from February 2016 and 12.6-percent decrease from February 2017.

In September, the foreign merchandise trade balance that represents the difference between total exports and imports recorded an annual increase of $5.2 billion. 

The year on year increase is attributed to exports of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons such as LNG, condensates, propane and butane, which amounted to 12.2 billion in February 2017, an increase of 18.9 percent from a year ago. 

Petroleum oils and oils from bituminous minerals (crude) worth QR3.5 billion was exported last month, an increase of 46.8 percent from February 2017. Meanwhile, export of petroleum oils and oils from bituminous minerals (not crude) reached QR1.3 billion, showing an annual increase of 68 percent.

Japan was Qatar's top exports destination, accounting for 19.1 percent or QR3.9 billion of the total exports. It is followed by South Korea with almost 17.5 percent (QR3.6 billion) and India with 11.3 percent (QR2.3 billion). 

Motorcars and other passenger vehicles made up the bulk of imports to Qatar in February 2017, accounting for QR0.5 billion” a decline of 34.4 percent compared to February 2016. 
It is followed by electrical apparatus for line telephony and telephone sets” which showed an annual increase of 56 percent to QR0.4 billion” and parts of aircraft and helicopters” which recorded an annual jump of almost 59 percent to QR0.2 billion. 

In February 2017, China imported the most amounts of goods to Qatar, accounting for 12.9 percent or QR1.05 billion of the total share. It is followed by the United State with 12.5 percent (QR1.02 billion) and United Arab Emirates with 9.5 percent (QR0.8 billion).