Monthly Economic Newsletter | July 2021

Qatar Foreign Trade (May 2021)

Trade Balance

According to the figures of The Planning and Statistics Authority for May 2021, the total value of foreign merchandise trade amounted to QR 33.2 billion, showing an increase of 14.1 % compared to QR 29.1 billion in April 2021.

In May 2021, the total exports of goods (including exports of goods of domestic origin and re-exports) amounted to around QR 24.9 billion, showing an increase of 19.1 percent compared to QR 20.9 billion in April.

The imports of goods in the said month amounted to around QR 8.3 billion, recording a slight increase of 1.2 percent compared to QR 8.2 billion in April.

Therefore, the country’s foreign merchandise trade balance, which represents the difference between total exports and imports, showed a surplus of QR 16.6 billion almost, recording an increase of 30.7 percent compared to QR 12.7 billion in April.

Table (1) Trade balance for April & May (Value in QR billion)

Major Trade Partners According to Foreign Trade – May 2021
In May 2021, China was at the top of the countries of destination of Qatar’s foreign trade with about QR 5 billion, a share of 15.1 percent of the state’s total foreign trade.

Major Trade Partners According to Exports – May 2021
In May 2021, China was at the top of the countries of destination of Qatar’s exports with close to QR 3.594 billion, a share of 14.4 percent of total exports, followed by Japan with almost QR 3.576 billion and a share of 14.3 percent and South Korea with about QR 2.779 billion, a share of 11.2 percent.

India comes in the fourth place with almost QR 2.667 billion, a share of 10.7 percent and UAE with about QR 1.798 billion, a share of 7.2 percent.

These five countries received approximately 57.9 percent of the total value of Qatari exports during the said month.

Table (2): Total exports by Major Countries of Destination- May 2021

Graph (1): Major Trade Partners According to Value of Exports – May 2021

Value of exports in billion

No Data Found

Graph (2): Exports by Major Countries of Destination – May 2021

Share (%) in total

No Data Found

Table (3): Main Groups of Commodities Exported - May 2021

Imports by Major Countries of Destination -May 2021

In May 2021, China was the leading country of origin for Qatar’s imports with about QR 1.452 billion, a share of 17.5 percent of the imports amounted to QR 8.3 billion, followed by the USA with QR 1.042 billion almost, a share of 12.6 percent, and Germany with QR 0.661 billion, a share of 8 percent.

India comes in the fourth place with about QR 0.491 billion, a share of 5.9 percent, followed by Italy with QR 0.459 billion, a share of 5.5 percent of the total value. 

The imports of these five countries represented 49.5 percent of the total value of imports during the mentioned month.

Table (4): Imports by Major Countries of Destination- May 2021

Graph (3): Imports by Major Trade Partners and share (%) in total – May 2021

Value of Imports in billion

No Data Found

Table (5): Main Groups of Commodities Imported – May 2021

Exports of the private sector – May 2021

  • The volume of the private sector exports in May 2021 amounted to QR 2.57 billion, showing a month-on-month increase of 24.20 percent compared to QR 2.069 billion in April, while on a year-on-year basis, it increased by 321 percent compared to QR 0.609 billion as in May 2020.
  • This increase demonstrated that the national economy has recovered from the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic and showed that the Qatar’s private sector has exceeded its pre-pandemic levels.
  • In May, private sector exports grew by 31.6 percent compared to QR 1.953 billion in February 2020, which registered the highest value of exports from the beginning of 2020, while it increased by 349.3 percent compared to QR 572 million in April 2020, which represented the lowest value during this period.

Graph (5) Private sector’s exports (from Feb & April 2020 and May 2021)

No Data Found

Graph (4) Private sector’s exports according to the type of certificate of origin (from May 2020 to May 2021)

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  • The increase in private sector exports in May is attributed to the year-on-year increase compared to May 2020 through most of all certificate models except for exports through the GSP Model which decreased by 20.9 percent.
  • Exports through GCC to Singapore model also recorded a sharp increase of 1021 percent, followed by exports through the General Model which increased by 453, Unified GCC model which increased by 444 percent, and exports through the Unified Arab model which increased by 48.8 percent.
  • On a monthly basis, exports of private sector in May 2021 through the GSP Model and GCC to Singapore model increased by 215 percent and 175 percent compared to April 2021, followed by the General Model which increased by 32.88 percent. While exports through the Unified Arab model and Unified GCC decreased by 9.08 and 1.48 percent respectively.

Table (6) Exports of the private sector according to the type of certificate of origin (May 2020, April & May 2021)

Graph (6) Private sector exports from according to the type of certificate of origin (April, May 2021, and May 2020)

(Value in million riyals)

No Data Found

  • Data of the private sector exports emphasized its ability and the Qatari economy in general to overcome the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic and returning to pre-pandemic levels.
  • In February 2021, the value of private sector’s exports increased by 190 percent compared to April 2020 which is the lowest value due to the precautionary measures to contain the spread of Covid-19, while it decreased by 16 percent compared to February 2020 in which exports registered the highest level.

Graph (5) Private sector exports from February 2020 to February 2021:

Table (7) Exports of private sector according to commodities (May 2020, April, May 2021)

Exports of the private sector according to the type of commodities:

  • In May 2021, the private sector’s exports of essential and industrial oils topped the list of exports which increased by 184 percent compared to the previous month, followed by steel which increased by 17.1 percent.
  • On the other hand, exports of other commodities such as aluminum, industrial gases, lutreine, chemical fertilizers, petrochemicals, paraffin, and chemical substances decreased by 14.7 percent, 58.7 percent, 32.3 percent, 86.3 percent, 20 percent and 10.2 respectively.

Graph (6) Private sector exports from according to the type of certificate of origin (April, May 2021, and May 2020)

(Value in million riyals)

No Data Found

Table (8) Relative weight of commodities in May 2021

Table (8) Relative weight of commodities in May 2021

No Data Found

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

Table (9) Exports of the private sector according to economic blocs & groupings – May 2021

Graph (7) Exports of private sector according to economic blocs and groupings – May 2021

No Data Found

As for economic blocs and groupings, EU countries were at the top of economic blocs that received exports of private sector amounted to QR 1045.3 million with a share of 40.7 percent of the total value, followed by Asian countries with a share of 32.6 percent with exports of QR 838.6 million.

In third place came the group of GCC states, with exports totaling QR 558.4 million representing 21.7 percent of the total value, followed by Arab countries excluding GCC states that received 76.8 million, a share of 3 percent.

The group of Other American Countries bloc came in the fifth place with exports amounted to QR 29.3 million, a share of 1.1 percent, followed by African Countries excluding Arab countries with exports amounted to 20.2 million, a share of 0.8 percent, Other European Countries which received exports of QR 2.1 million or a share of 0.1 percent.

Exports of the private sector as per major destinations –May 2021

Table (9) Exports of the private sector according to economic blocs & groupings – May 2021

Graph (8) Major trade partners of the private sector’s exports – March 2021

No Data Found

In May 2021, Germany was at the top of the countries of destination of private sector’s exports with close to QR 1006.5 million, a share of 39.2 percent of the total exports.

It is followed by Oman with almost QR 421.3 million and a share of 16.4 percent and India with about QR 325.4 million, a share of 12.7 percent.

Singapore came in fourth place with almost QR 200.4 million, a share of 7.8 percent and Turkey with exports amounted to about QR 130.1million, a share of 5.1 percent.

The value of private sector exports to these countries represented 81.2 percent of the total value of exports during the same month.

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