Qatar Chamber’s Research and Studies Department expects 2021 to be a year of recovery for Qatar’s economy (from the impact of Covid-19) with an increase in the GDP of 2.2% compared to a decrease of 2.6% in 2020 according to the budget’s main indicators.

The budget for 2021 anticipates a total revenue of QAR 160.1 billion (USD 43.9 billion) and total expenditures of QAR 194.7 billion (USD 53.3 billion) respectively.

The figures of the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) for October 2020 indicate that the total value of foreign merchandise trade amounted to QAR 23.6 billion (USD 6.5 billion) which suggests an increase of 15.7% compared to September 2020.

Qatar`s trade balance (which represents the difference between total exports and imports) indicated a surplus of QAR 7.0 billion (USD 1.9 billion) which suggests an increase of 9.5% compared to the previous month. In October 2020, the total exports amounted to QAR 15.3 billion (USD 4.2 billion) which suggests an increase of 14.1% while imports in the same month amounted to QAR 8.3 billion (USD 2.3 billion) which suggests and increase of 18.3%. Whereas, China was the top destination for Qatar’s exports with a share of 14% of Qatar’s foreign trade.

The trade of the private sector reached QAR 1.2 billion (USD 340 million) which suggests an increase of 13.7% compared to September 2020 and 117% compared to April 2020. This surge in the private sector’s trade illustrates that the economy is recovering from the effects of the pandemic.

The number of industrial facilities registered by the end of 2020 reached 927 compared to 862 at the beginning of 2020.

In October 2020, Italy received the highest number of the private sector’s exports with an amount of QAR 336 million (USD 92 million) with a share of 27.1% of the total exports followed by India (22.5%), Germany (10.0%), Turkey (7.3%) and Oman (6.3%).

The European countries were at the top of the regions that received exports of the private sector with an amount of QAR 555 million (USD 152 million) with a share of 44.7% of the total exports followed by the Asian countries (41.5%), GCC states (7.7%), Arab countries (5.0%) and African nations (0.8%).

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