Qatar's foreign trade powers economic growth, strengthens global connectivity

Qatar Tribune

a day ago

QNA
Doha
Qatar's foreign trade witnessed significant growth, marked by an expansion in the number of trade partners and diversification in import and export activities.
Data indicates that the country's foreign trade volume increased by 1.3 percent in 2024, reaching QR476.281 billion, compared to QR470.224 billion in 2023.
According to data from the National Planning Council, the total value of Qatari exports—including domestic goods and re-exports—stood at QR345.961 billion in 2024, compared to QR355.815 billion theprevious year.
Imports reached QR130.319 billion, up from QR114.409 billion in 2023. Consequently, Qatar's trade surplus (the difference between total exports and imports) for the year stood at QR215.642 billion.
In terms of trade balance by economic regions or trade partners, Asia ranked first among Qatar's trading partners, with trade volume totaling QR319.432 billion in 2024.
Exports to Asia reached QR267.077 billion, accounting for 77.2 percent of Qatar's total exports, while imports from Asia were QR 52.355 billion, or 40.2 percent of total imports. The trade surplus with Asia stood at QR214.722 billion.
According to National Planning Council data obtained by Qatar News Agency (QNA), the European Union ranked second among Qatar's main trading partners, with trade volume amounting to QR60.892 billion. Exports to the EU totaled QR27.914 billion (8.1 percent of total exports), while imports reached QR32.978 billion, representing 25.3 percent of total imports, resulting in a trade deficit of QR5.064 billion.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries ranked third in terms of economic regions for Qatar. Total trade volume with the GCC stood at QR52.080 billion, with exports amounting to QR37.183 billion (10.7 percent of total exports), and imports reaching QR14.897 billion (11.4 percent of total imports). The trade surplus with GCC countries amounted to QR22.287 billion.
The United States of America ranked fourth, with a total trade volume of QR22.328 billion. Exports to the US were QR5.475 billion (1.6 percent of total exports), while imports stood at QR16.853 billion (12.9 percent of total imports), resulting in a trade deficit of QR11.377 billion.
Other European countries ranked fifth with a trade volume of QR 5.883 billion, followed by other countries from the Americas in sixth place with QR4.437 billion. Other Arab countries ranked seventh with QR4.176 billion, while Oceania came in eighth with QR3.150 billion.
Africa (excluding Arab countries) recorded a trade volume of QR2.442 billion, and other unspecified countries ranked tenth with a trade volume of QR1.460 billion.
Regarding the main destination countries for Qatari exports, China ranked first with exports totaling QR68.889 billion, followed by South Korea with QR46.680 billion, India with QR40.593 billion, Japan with QR24.459 billion, Singapore with QR24.271 billion, and other countries accounting for QR141.069 billion.
As for the main countries of origin for Qatari imports, China led with imports valued at QR19.668 billion, followed by the US with QR16.853 billion, Italy with QR7.401 billion, India with QR7.078 billion, Japan with QR 6.715 billion, and other countries accounting for QR72.605 billion.
On the top of the list of exports came mineral fuels, lubricants, and similar materials at QR 289.776 billion in 2024, according to the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC). This was followed by chemicals and chemical products valued at QR27.625 billion, and machinery and transport equipment worth QR12.535 billion.
Machinery and transport equipment topped Qatar's imports list with a value of QR53.155 billion in 2024, up from QR45.625 billion in 2023. This was followed by miscellaneous manufactured articles valued at QR19.933 billion, while imports of food and live animals amounted to QR13.688 billion.
Due to the pivotal role of foreign trade in the economic and social development, Qatar has recognised since the early 1990s the importance of integrating its economy with foreign economies. This realisation prompted a comprehensive review of Qatar's trade policies and foreign investment regulations in accordance with international standards.
According to the 'Qatar Economic Outlook Report 2021 - 2023' released in January 2022 , the average ratio of total merchandise exports to GDP during the period 2017–2020 was approximately 41.2 percent.
The average proportion of the state's public revenues from oil and gas accounted for about 74.1 percent of total hydrocarbon exports. Additionally, import activities help supply local markets with consumer, intermediate, and capital goods to meet the demands of economic and social development.
According to World Bank statistics for 2019, Qatar ranked 42nd globally in total exports among exporting countries.
Moreover, data from the International Trade Centre (ITC) in 2019 showed that Qatar ranked 64th in total imports among importing countries. In 2019, Qatar's trade partners numbered approximately 144 countries for imports and 156 countries for exports.
Tracing the evolution of Qatar's trade policies and foreign investment, and from the perspective of benefiting from the positive effects of economic openness and liberalization of trade and foreign investment, Qatar began in the early 1990s to modernize its legal framework for international trade and investment.
This included commitments related to international obligations as well as domestic laws and regulations, culminating in Qatar's accession to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) on April 7, 1994.
After GATT was replaced by the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on January 1, 1995, Qatar ratified WTO commitments within its national legislation under Decree No. 24 of 1995, issued on December 3, 1995, pursuant to the protocol of Qatar's accession to the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO. Qatar officially joined the WTO on January 13, 1996.
Qatar hosted the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in November 2001, which facilitated negotiations on regulations concerning agriculture, services, and intellectual property.
Qatar's participation in founding the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in May 1981 led to its ratification of dozens of agreements on the reciprocal promotion and protection of investments (RPPI), as well as the economic, commercial, and technical cooperation (ECTC).
According to Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement of 1995, which stipulated the creation of a mechanism to review trade policies to assist member countries in conducting periodic reviews of trade policies and practices—and following a recent amendment requiring each member state to conduct a trade policy review every seven years—Qatar conducted three such reviews: the first on February 21, 2005, the second on April 22, 2014, and the third on April 6 and 8, 2021.
The latest statistics indicate that Qatar's economic openness index with foreign economies reached about 90.8% of GDP during the period 2017–2020, especially with the significant increase in trade exchange rates of exports and imports of goods and services between Qatar and many countries worldwide.