02-06-2021
The Planning and Statistics Authority issued its preliminary report on foreign trade statistics for the month of April 2021. The report includes data on exports (of local origin and re-exports) and imports, and the following is a brief presentation of the data:
During the month of April 2021, the value of the total Qatari exports (which includes exports of local origin and re-exports) amounted to approximately 21.0 billion Qatari riyals, an increase of 77.1% compared to April 2020, and a decrease of 5.0% compared to March 2021.
On the other hand, the value of merchandise imports increased during the month of April 2021, reaching about 8.2 billion Qatari riyals, an increase of 9.2% compared to April 2020, and a decrease of 8.0% compared to March 2021.
In light of this, the merchandise trade balance, which represents the difference between total exports and imports during April 2021, achieved a surplus of 12.8 billion Qatari riyals, recording an increase of 8.4 billion Qatari riyals, or 194.1% compared to the same month of the previous year 2020, and a decrease of approx. 0.4 billion Qatari riyals, or 3.0%, compared to March 2021.
Comparing between April 2021 and April 2020, the value of exports of “oil gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons”, which represent (liquefied natural gas, condensate, propane, butane, etc..) increased to about 11.7 billion Qatari riyals, by 52.6%, and the value of “oils” increased Oil and oils of bituminous raw mineral materials” to reach approximately QR 3.2 billion, or 171.9%. The value of exports of “petroleum oils and oils obtained from non-crude bituminous minerals” increased to about QR 2.2 billion, or 356.2%.
In terms of exports according to the main destination countries, Japan ranked first in the countries of destination for Qatar’s exports during April 2021 with a value of approximately QR 2.8 billion, or 13.4% of the total value of Qatari exports, followed by China with a value of approximately QR 2.76 billion, or a percentage of 13.2% of the total value of exports, followed by India with a value of approximately 2.7 billion Qatari riyals, or 12.7%.
In a comparison between April 2021 and April 2020, the group "jet turbines, propelling turbines, other gas turbines and their parts" came at the top of the list of merchandise imports, amounting to 0.5 billion Qatari riyals, with a decrease of 32.4%, followed by the group of "cars and other mainly designed vehicles for people transportation” by about QR 0.4 billion, an increase of 20.9%, and the group of “electrical devices for mobiles (telephone) or wired telegraph (telegraph), including the devices that transmit the network, and its parts”, which amounted to approximately QR 0.3 billion, with an increase of 23.6%.
In terms of imports according to the main countries of origin, China ranked first in the countries of origin for the imports of the State of Qatar during the month of April 2021 with a value of approximately 1.1 billion Qatari riyals, or 13.4% of the total value of merchandise imports, then the United States of America with a value of 1.08 billion Qatari riyals, or 13.3 percent %, followed by India with a value of 0.6 billion Qatari riyals, or 7.4%.