Qatar’s Merchandise Trade Surplus Reaches $5.52 Billion, Up 2.5% Year-On-Year

Qatar’s foreign merchandise trade balance achieved a surplus of 20.1 billion Qatari riyals ($5.52 billion) in July, marking a 2.5% increase compared to the same month in 2023, according to new figures from the National Planning Council. This surplus represents the difference between total exports and imports.

In July, Qatar’s total exports, encompassing both domestically produced goods and re-exports, amounted to approximately 30.2 billion riyals, reflecting a 3.9% increase year-on-year. Conversely, imports for the same month reached about 10.1 billion riyals, up 6.8% from the previous year.

The growth in exports was largely driven by higher sales of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), condensates, and propane, which totaled around 17.6 billion riyals—a 3.7% increase. However, exports of crude petroleum oils and oils from bituminous minerals fell by 8.3%, totaling nearly 4.9 billion riyals. Non-crude petroleum oils and oils from bituminous minerals also decreased by 5.2%, reaching 2.6 billion riyals.

China emerged as the top destination for Qatar’s exports in July, accounting for approximately 5.9 billion riyals, or 19.6% of total exports. South Korea and India followed with 3.8 billion riyals (12.6%) and 3.7 billion riyals (12.2%), respectively.

On the import side, Qatar’s largest import category was “Turbojets, Turbopropellers & Other Gas Turbines; Parts Thereof,” valued at 600 million riyals—a 31.4% decrease year-on-year. This was followed by “Parts of Balloons Etc; Parts of Aircraft; Spacecraft Etc” and “Medicaments Mixed or Not, In Dosage Etc. Form,” with respective values of 270 million riyals (down 41.9%) and 260 million riyals (up 34.4%).

China was the leading country of origin for Qatar’s imports in July, with approximately 1.5 billion riyals, followed by the US at 1.4 billion riyals and Japan at 0.7 billion riyals.