Santhosh V. Perumal

A strong rebound in wholesale and retail trade, hospitality, utilities, information and communication, and manufacturing sectors helped Qatar post a robust 5.6% quarter-on-quarter real growth in the third quarter of 2020, according to official data.

An healthy 9% inflation-adjusted growth in the non-hydrocarbons and a 0.7% in mining and quarrying sectors led the country's GDP (gross domestic product) at constant prices (base year 2013) reach QR171.66bn in the review period, according to figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA).

On a yearly basis, the country’s real GDP fell 4.5% in the third quarter of 2020 with mining sector and non-mining sectors declining 3.6% and 5% respectively; even as the agriculture sector saw a robust 4% expansion.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated that Qatar's real growth in 2020 would be subdued but will rebound in 2021.

Qatar’s expected 5% growth next year is in contrast to an estimated 4.3% decline this year on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, the IMF said, and the country’s forecasted real economic growth in 2021 will be better than the 4.7% averaged for the Middle East North Africa and Pakistan region.

Within non-hydrocarbons, on a quarterly basis, the wholesale and retail trade sector is estimated to have surged 65.3%, accommodation and food (49.8%), utilities (21.3%), information and communication (12.8%), manufacturing (9%), real estate (7.8%), finance and insurance (7.2%)and construction (1%); while transport and storage was down 0.5%.

On yearly basis, the transport and storage segment witnessed a huge 41.2% plunge, followed by accommodation and food (16.3%), manufacturing (10.4%), construction (4.6%) and wholesale and retail trade (2.3%); even as finance and insurance grew 7.4%, real estate and utilities (2.5% each), information and communication (1.6%).

On a nominal basis (at current prices), Qatar's GDP is estimated to have shot up 9.6% quarter-on-quarter but fell 19.9% year-on-year at the end of third quarter of 2020.

The hydrocarbons saw an 18.8% surge on a quarterly basis while it plunged 40.5% on yearly basis and in the case of non-hydrocarbons, the sector saw a 6.6% jump quarter-on-quarter, while it declined 8.5% on a yearly basis in the review period.

There was a stupendous 67.2% quarterly expansion in wholesale and retail trade, 64.6% in accommodation and food, 18% in utilities, 15% in information and communication, 14% in manufacturing, 5.7% in real estate services and 4.5% in finance and insurance; while the construction sector saw a 5.7% shrinkage and transport and storage 5.3%.

On a yearly basis, the transport and storage sector fell 34.6%, manufacturing (28.8%), wholesale and retail trade (6.4%), accommodation and food (6.2%), construction (6%) and real estate (2.6%); whereas finance and insurance sector grew 6.6%, utilities (1.4%) and information and communication (0.8%).

The import duties, on real terms, are estimated to have risen 0.6% quarter-on-quarter but declined 12.8% year-on-year at the end of third quarter 2020. On nominal terms, they reported 1.7% jump and 16.5% decline in the review period.