Nevertheless, the country's Industrial Production Index (IPI) declined 5.6% month-on-month and 0.1% year-on-year in the review month, said the figures released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS).
The ministry introduced IPI, a short-term quantitative index, to measure the changes in the volume of production of a selected basket of industrial products over a given period with respect to a base period 2013.
The manufacturing index, with a relative weight of 15.2%, showed a 6.1% surge month-on-month in October owing to a 16.8% surge in printing and reproduction of recorded media, 15.3% in manufacture of basic metals, 10.7% in cement and other non-metallic mineral products, 8% in beverages, 6.4% in chemicals and chemical products, 4.3% in rubber and plastics products and 2.3% in food products; while there was a 1.7% fall in the manufacture of refined petroleum products.
On a yearly basis, the manufacturing index shot up 7.2% with refined petroleum products' output soaring 36.1%, food products (19.1%), basic metals (9.9%), chemicals and chemical products (3.6%), beverages (2.7%) and printing and reproduction of recorded media (2.3%); whereas the manufacturing of cement and other non-metallic mineral products declined 19.7% and rubber and plastics products (9.2%).
The mining and quarrying index, which has a relative weight of 83.6%, shrank 7.7% on a monthly basis in October 2017 on the back of a 7.7% fall in extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas; even as there was 16.5% jump in other mining and quarrying activities.
On a yearly basis, the index showed 1.6% fall as the extraction of crude and natural gas slumped 1.6% and other mining and quarrying index 11.3%.
Electricity, which has a 0.7% weight in the IPI basket, saw a 7.9% decline on a monthly basis but reported a 17.9% expansion on a yearly basis; while in the case of water, which has a 0.5% weight, there was a 5.5% increase month-on-month while it fell 2.4% year-on-year.
This file photo taken on February 1, 2006 shows an oil refinery on the outskirts of Doha. On a yearly basis, the manufacturing index shot up 7.2% with refined petroleum products' output soaring 36.1%.
Qatar's manufacturing sector witnessed robust expansion both on monthly and yearly basis this October mainly on the back of increased production of cement, beverages and chemicals, according to official estimates.