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The bilateral relations between Qatar and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have reached new heights and witnessed a boost in trade.
The trade volume between Qatar and GCC (which include Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait) jumped around 85 percent at the end of third quarter compared to the first quarter of 2022.
According to the official figures from the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA), the trade volume between Qatar and GCC reached QR7.305bn during the first quarter of last year and increased to QR10.114bn during the second quarter. It jumped to QR13.469bn during the third quarter of 2022.
The momentum of trade between these countries is so strong that the trade volume during the first three quarters is more than the total trade volume during the entire 2021.
The total trade volume witnessed between Qatar and GCC countries was around QR19.12bn during 2021, while it rose to QR30.88bn for the first three quarters of 2022.
The economies of GCC countries are growing at a fast pace and are expected to register further boost in trade .
The latest edition of the ‘Survey of Economic and Social Developments in the Arab Region’, released by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), states that the region’s economy is expected to grow by 4.5 percent in 2023 and 3.4 percent in 2024 respectively, despite the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine.
The total exports to GCC in the first, second and third quarters of last year stood at QR5.611bn, 8.732bn and 11.531bn respectively, while the imports during the same period were QR1.694bn, QR1.382bn and 1.938bn respectively.
In the third quarter of 2022, the value of Qatar’s total exports (including exports of domestic goods and re-exports) amounted to QR138.8bn, showing an increase by QR56.2bn (68 percent), compared to third quarter of 2021, which amounted total exports of QR82.6bn and increased by nearly QR12.8bn or 10.2 percent compared to second quarter of last year.
There was an increase in total exports in the third quarter of last year on year-on-year basis, which was mainly due to higher exports of mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials by QR54.2bn (77.1 percent), chemicals and related products by QR1bn (13.2 percent), manufactured goods classified chiefly material by QR0.6bn (36.6 percent), miscellaneous manufactured articles by QR0.4bn (184.2 percent).
On the other hand, decrease was recorded mainly in machinery and transport equipment by QR0.03bn (1.6 percent), food and live animals by QR0.002bn (7.7 percent).
While the value of Qatar’s imports in the third quarter of 2022 amounted to QR31.5bn, an increase of QR6.7bn (27.1 percent), compared imports of the third quarter of 2021.
As Qatar limbers up to host various international events post-World Cup, the country has already become one of the favourite destinations for a large number of tourists outpouring into the country, which sees a vital growth in investments across all Gulf countries.
