Qatar’s trade surplus sees 3% m-o-m growth in February; shipments to South Korea on the rise

Qatar saw a 3.4% month-on-month jump in trade surplus to QR18.07bn in February 2024 as shipments to South Korea registered expansion, according to the official estimates.

Total exports (valued free on board) were QR28.17bn, while the total imports (cost, insurance and freight) amounted to QR10.1bn in the review period, said the figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority. However, the trade surplus shrank 21.1% year-on-year in February 2024.

The country's total exports of domestic goods amounted to QR28.17bn, which declined 8.8% and 9.2% month-on-month and year-on-year respectively in February 2024.

As much as 66% of Qatar's exports went to the Asian/South Asian countries in the review period.

Qatar's shipments to China amounted to QR7.19bn or 25.5% of the total exports of the country in February this year, followed by South Korea QR4.53bn (16.1%), India QR3.16bn (11.2%), Singapore QR1.93bn (6.9%) and Japan QR1.66bn (5.9%).

On a monthly basis, the country's exports to South Korea shot up 8.38%; whereas those to Japan plummeted 25.59%, India by 22.02%, Singapore by 16.55% and China by 3.88% in the review period.

On a yearly basis, Qatar's exports to China soared 18.89%; while those to Japan plunged 50.64%, India by 20.37%, Singapore by 14.56% and South Korea by 10.23% in February 2024.

The country’s exports of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons shrank 10.7% month-on-month to QR17.58bn, crude by 9.9% to QR4.47bn and non-crude by 20.3% to QR1.64bn; while those other commodities were up 0.8% to QR3.16bn in February 2024.

On a yearly basis, the exports of petroleum gases were seen declining 10.4%, crude by 7%, non-crude by 33.1% and other commodities by 2.9% in the review period.

The share of petroleum gases in the country's total export basket has been declining on an annualised basis, while those of crude and non-crude were on the increase.

Petroleum gases accounted for 65.41% of the total exports in February 2024 compared to 65.13% a year-ago period, crude 16.65% (15.93%), non-crude 6.11% (8.13%) and others 11.77% (10.82%).

Qatar's total imports showed a 24.8% decline on a monthly basis but soared 24.6% on an annualised basis in February 2024.

The country's imports from China amounted to QR1.47bn or 14.5% of the total imports; followed by the US QR1.31bn (12.9%), the UK QR0.83bn (8.2%), India QR0.63bn (6.2%) and Germany QR0.54bn (5.4%) in the review period.

On a monthly basis, the country's imports from India declined 23.6% and China by 17.41%; whereas those from the UK expanded 90.53%, the US by 37.33% and Germany by 20.22% in February 2024.

On a yearly basis, Qatar's imports from the UK more than tripled; those from the US shot up 23.32%, China by 15.98%, India by 12.88% and Germany by 4.64% in the review period.

In February 2024, the group of "Motor Cars & Other Motor Vehicles for The Transport of Persons” was at the top of the imported group of commodities and valued at QR0.5bn, which increased 28.4% year-on-year.

In second place was the "Electrical Apparatus for Line Telephony/Telegraphy, Telephone Sets Etc. and parts thereof" group, which saw imports of QR0.35bn, an increase of 26.7% on an annualised basis in February 2024.

The imports of "Parts of Aeroplanes or Helicopters” were valued at QR0.29bn, showing an increase of 37.4% on an annualised basis.