DOHA: Qatar’s quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at constant prices rose 2.5 percent in the second quarter of 2016 compared to the first quarter of same year, driven by strong growth in Financial and Insurance activities, Mining and Quarrying and Real Estate activities.
The GDP, which is a measure of the size of an economy, grew from QR192.97bn in the first quarter of 2016 to QR197.83bn in the second quarter of same year.
However, compared to the second quarter (Q2 of 2015) of QR193.88bn, the Year-on-Year (YoY) growth in the second quarter of this year is 2 percent, the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics said yesterday in a report on the preliminary estimates at current and constant prices for the second quarter of 2015.
The real Gross Value Added (GVA) of Mining and Quarrying sector in the Q2 of 2016 stood at QR99.51bn, showing a decrease of 1.2 percent over the estimate of Q2 of 2015. However, compared to the previous quarter (Q1 of 2016) revised estimate, there is an increase of 3.4 percent in the GVA of this sector.
The drop in the international price of crude oil and related goods has led to a sharp Y-o-Y decline in nominal GVA of this sector as it had happened in previous quarters of 2015 and 2016. However, oil and gas international prices have recovered in Q2 of 2016 compared to Q1 of 2016, leading to the Quarter on Quarter (Q-o-Q) increase in the nominal GVA of this sector.
The real GVA of Non Mining and Quarrying sectors in Q2 of 2016, totaled QR98.33bn, reflecting a growth of 5.5 percent over the corresponding quarter (Q2, 2015) GVA estimate. However, compared to the previous quarter (Q1 of 2016) revised estimate, there has been an increase of 1.6% in the GVA of this sector. The (Y-o-Y) growth in the Q2 of 2016 is mainly due to the increases seen in construction, transportation, financial services, and real estate activities.
The real GVA of Manufacturing sector is estimated at QR19.50bn in Q2 of 2016 showing a drop of 4.4 percent over the estimate of corresponding quarter of 2015. However, compared to the previous quarter (Q1 of 2016) revised GVA of this sector, there has been an increase of 1.3 percent.
The drop (Y-o-Y) in the nominal estimates is mainly due to falling international prices, while the drop in real terms is mainly explained by the decline in the production of basic chemicals and the manufacturing of plastics.
The real GVA of the construction sector was at QR15.55bn in Q2 of 2016 showing a growth of 15.7 percent when compared to the GVA of corresponding quarter of 2015. Compared to the previous quarter (Q1 of 2016), there has been a drop of 2.8 percent in the GVA of this sector.
The real GVA of the wholesale and retail trade sector is estimated at QR12.15bn in Q2 of 2016 registering a growth of 4.3 percent over the corresponding quarter of 2015.
