Qatar recorded a 10.7% month-on-month (m-o-m) increase in its foreign merchandise balance for August 2020 to reach nearly QR0.7bn, according to preliminary figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA).
The statistics pertain to the value of exports of domestic goods, re-exports and imports for August 2020, the PSA announced on Sunday.
In August 2020, the total exports of goods (including exports of goods of domestic origin and re-exports) amounted to around QR14.0bn, showing a decrease of 33.8% compared to August 2019, and a 3.3% increase compared to July 2020.
On other hand, the imports of goods in August 2020 amounted to around QR7.1bn, showing a decrease of 21.6% over August 2019. On a m-o-m basis, the imports decrease by 3.0% compared to July 2020.
In August 2020, the foreign merchandise trade balance, which represents the difference between total exports and imports, showed a surplus of QR6.9bn, or a decrease of about QR5.2bn or 42.9% compared to August 2019, and increased by nearly QR0.7bn or 10.7% compared to July 2020.
The year-on-year (August 2020 to August 2019) decrease in total exports was mainly due to lower exports of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons (LNG, condensates, propane, and butane, among others) reaching QR7.7bn approximately in August 2020, or a decrease of 41.6%.
Petroleum oils and oils from bituminous minerals (crude) reaching QR2.4bn decreased by 29.5%, and decrease in the petroleum oils and oils from bituminous minerals (not crude) reaching QR1.3bn, decreased by 7.2%.
In August 2020, China topped the list of countries of destination of Qatar’s exports with close to QR2.6bn, a share of 18.2% of total exports, followed by Japan with almost QR2.2bn and a share of 15.8%, and India with about QR1.9bn, a share of 13.7%.
During August 2020, the group of ‘Parts of Aero planes or Helicopters’ was at the top of the imported group of commodities with QR0.3bn, showing a decrease of 33.8% compared to August 2019.
In second place was ‘electrical apparatus for line telephony/telegraphy, telephone sets etc.; parts thereof’ with QR0.2bn, showing an increase of 21.8%, while in third place was ‘motor cars & other motor vehicles for the transport of persons’ with QR0.2bn, or decrease of 42.6%.
In August 2020, the US was the leading country of origin of Qatar’s imports with about QR1.6bn, a share of 22.5% of the imports, followed by China with QR0.9bn, a share of 13.2%, and India with QR0.4bn, a share of 5.7%.
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