Monthly Economic Newsletter | January 2021

Monthly Economic Newsletter (January 2021)

Qatar’s Foreign Trade (November 2020)

Table (1) Trade balance for October & November 2020 (Value in QR billion)

According to the figures of The Planning and Statistics Authority for November 2020, the total value of foreign merchandise trade amounted to QR 24.1 billion, showing an increase of 2.1 % compared to October 2020, which amounted to QR 23.6 billion.

In November 2020, the total exports of goods (including exports of goods of domestic origin and re-exports) amounted to around QR 16.6 billion, showing an increase of 8.5 percent compared to QR 15.3 billion in September.

The imports of goods in November 2020 amounted to around QR 7.5 billion, showing a decrease of 9.6 % compared to QR 8.3 billion in October.

Therefore, the country’s foreign merchandise trade balance, which represents the difference between total exports and imports, showed a surplus of QR 9.1 billion almost, an increase of 30 % compared to QR 7 billion in October.

Major Trade Partners According to Foreign Trade- November 2020
In November 2020, China was at the top of the countries of destination of Qatar’s foreign trade with about QR 3.9 billion, a share of 16.2 percent of the state’s total foreign trade.

Major Trade Partners According to Exports- November 2020
In November 2020, Japan was at the top of the countries of destination of Qatar’s exports with close to QR 2.983 billion, a share of 18 percent of total exports, followed by China with almost QR 2.732 billion and a share of 16.5 percent, South Korea with about QR 2.299 billion, a share of 13.8 percent.

India comes in the fourth place with almost QR 1.951 billion, a share of 11.8 % and Singapore with about QR 0.867 billion, a share of 5.2 percent.

Graph (1): Major Trade Partners According to Value of Exports – August 2020

Value of exports in billion

Graph (2): Exports by Major Countries of Destination – November 2020

Total exports by Major Countries of Destination-August 2020

Share (%) in total

Table (3): Main Groups of Commodities Exported -November 2020

Imports by Major Countries of Destination -October 2020

In November 2020, China was the leading country of origin for Qatar’s imports with about QR 1.154 billion, a share of 15.4 percent of the imports amounted to QR 7.5 billion, followed by the USA with QR 1.039 billion almost, a share of 13.9 percent, and India with QR 0.487 billion, a share of 6.5 percent.

Italy comes in the fourth place with about QR 0.450 billion, a share of 6 percent, followed by Germany with QR 0.413 billion, a share of 5.5 percent of the total value.

Table (4): Imports by Major Countries of Destination- November 2020

Graph (3): Imports by Major Trade Partners share in total -November 2020

Value of Imports in billion

Graph (3): Imports by Major Trade Partners and share (%) in total-August 2020

Table (5): Main Groups of Commodities Imported – November 2020

Exports of the private sector – November 2020

The exports of private sector in November amounted to QR 1.176 billion, showing a decrease of 5.2% compared to QR 1.240 billion in October.
This decline in private sector’s exports is attributed to the decrease in exports through the GSP which amounted to QR 81 million compared to QR 276 million in October, a decrease of 70%.
Exports through the General Model certificate of origin, Unified Arab model and the Unified GCC have increased by 14.9%, 13.7% and 6.1% respectively.

Private Sector Exports

Table (6) Exports of the private sector according to the type of certificate of origin (October, November 2020)

Graph (4) Private sector’s exports according to the type of certificate of origin (October, November 2020)

(Value in million riyals)

The value of exports in November increased by 105 percent compared to April, the lowest month of the year, while it decreased by 69 percent copmared to February, the highest month of the year.

Graph (5) Private sector exports from January to August 2020 (Value in billion)

Exports of the private sector according to the type of commodities

Table (7) Exports of private sector according to commodities (October & November)

Graph (6) Relative weights of the private sector's export commodities – November 2020

Data of table (7) and Graph (6), indicate that:

In November, private sector’s exports of aluminum topped the list of exports with 29.6% of the total value, followed by Essential & Industrial oils with21.1% and industrial gases with 14%.
Chemical fertilizers come in the fourth place with 11.3% and paraffin with 7% of the total value.

Exports of the private sector as per major destinations – November 2020:

Table (8) Exports by major trade partners - November 2020

Graph (7) Major trade partners of the private sector’s exports – November 2020

In November 2020, India was at the top of the countries of destination of private sector’s exports with close to QR 259 million, a share of 22 percent of the total exports.

It was followed by Netherland with almost QR 214 million and a share of 18.23 percent and Bangladesh with about QR 127 million, a share of 10.77 percent.

Turkey came in fourth place with almost QR 89.2 million, a share of 7.59 percent and Oman with about QR 88.9 million, a share of 7.3 percent.

Destinations of the private sector’s exports in terms of the economic blocs

Table (9) Destinations of the private sector exports as per economic blocs and groupings -November 2020

Value in million riyals

Graph (8) Exports of the private sector according to economic blocs & groupings – November 2020

At the level of blocs and groupings, Asian countries were at the top of economic blocs that received exports of private sector amounted to QR 679 million with a share of 57.72 % of the total value, followed by EU states with a share of 24.10% with exports of QR 283 million.

In third place came the group of GCC states, with exports totaling QR 111 million representing 9.43 % of the total value, followed by Arab countries excluding GCC states that received 89 million, a share of 7.57 percent and African Countries excluding Arab countries with exports amounted to 11 million, a share of 0.9 percent.

The group of other European countries, other American countries and Other American countries received exports of values 0.14%, 0.08 and 0.07% respectively.

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