Qatar witnessed a strong double-digit growth in shipments to India and the UAE as its trade surplus expanded to QR20.13bn in July 2024, according to the official estimates.

The country's merchandise trade surplus was seen growing 2.5% and 2.9% year-on-year and month-on-month respectively in the review period, according to the National Planning Council (NPC) data.

Total exports (valued free on board) totalled QR30.21bn, while total imports (cost, insurance and freight) amounted to QR10.08bn in July 2024.

The country's total exports of domestic goods amounted to QR28.74bn, which shot up 2.8% and 1.5% on yearly and monthly basis respectively in July 2024.

In July 2024, Qatar's shipments to China amounted to QR5.92bn or 19.6% of the total exports of the country, followed by South Korea QR3.8bn (12.6%), India QR3.68bn (12.2%), Japan QR2.08bn (6.9%) and the UAE QR1.86n (6.1%).

Qatar's exports to India shot up 31.63% on an annualised basis in July 2024, the UAE by 14.84% and Japan by 2.56%; whereas those to South Korea and China declined 8.22% and 1.68% respectively.

On a monthly basis, the country's exports to China zoomed 61.7% and India by 11.77%; while those to South Korea fell 21.8%, the UAE by 8.25% and Japan by 5.91% in the review period.

The country’s exports of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons soared 3.7% year-on-year to QR17.62bn and other commodities by 26.3% to QR3.55bn; even as those of crude declined by 8.3% to QR4.92bn and non-crude by 5.2% to QR2.65bn in July 2024.

On a monthly basis, the exports of non-crude and other commodities soared 13% and 25.3%; while those of petroleum gases fell 1.4% and crude by 2.9% in the review period.

Petroleum gases accounted for 61.31% of the total exports compared to 60.77% a year-ago period, crude 17.12% (19.17%), non-crude 9.22% (9.98%) and others 12.35% (10.05%).

The country’s re-exports were valued at QR1.47bn, which registered 31% and 25.3% growth year-on-year and month-on-month respectively in the review period.

Qatar's total imports showed a 6.8% and 1.8% increase on yearly and monthly basis respectively in July 2024.

The country's imports from China amounted to QR1.49bn or 14.8% of the total; followed by the US QR1.45bn (14.3%), Japan QR0.66bn (6.5%), the UAE QR0.65bn (6.4%) and India by QR0.59bn (5.9%) in the review period.

On a yearly basis, Qatar's imports from the UAE surged 213.11%, Japan by 148.12%, India by 15.2% and the US by 6.87%, while those from China declined 5.52% in the review period.

On a monthly basis, the country's imports from Japan expanded 41.63%, India by 27.92%, the UAE by 19.22% and the US by 9.38%; whereas those from China shrank 8.43% in July 2024.

In July 2024, “Turbojets, Turbo-propellers & Other Gas Turbines; Parts Thereof” was at the top of the imported group of commodities and valued at QR0.6bn, showing a decrease of 31.4% year-on-year.

In second place was "Parts of aircraft and spacecraft" with a value of QR0.27bn, showing an annual decline of 41.9% in July 2024.

The “Medicaments Mixed or not, In Dosage Etc. Form” group imports were valued at QR0.26bn, which increased 34.4% on an annualised basis in July 2024.

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