Qatar trade surplus hits USD7.2b in September

30 Oct 2014

(MENAFN) According to the Ministry of Statistics, Qatar’s trade surplus registered a decline by reaching USD7.2 billion in September compared with USD8.99 billion registered during the same month last year, QNA said.

Qatar’s total exports of goods, including exports of domestic origin, amounted to USD9.90 billion, decreasing by 13.4 percent compared to the corresponding month of 2013, while imports of goods in September 2014 amounted to USD2.68 billion registering an increase of 10.5 percent compared to the value of imports posted in the same month last year.
Meanwhile, the trade balance of goods, which represents the difference between total exports and imports, showed a surplus of USD7.21 billion, a decrease of USD1.78 billion or by 19.9 percent compared to September 2013.

The decrease in exports was mainly attributed to lower exports of Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons, which reached USD6 billion in September 2014, which is a decrease by 12.1 percent in comparison with September 2013, as well as a decrease in Petroleum oils and oils from bituminous minerals, which amounted to USD1.70 billion in September.

In terms of countries, Japan topped the export destination with USD2.19 billion, which accounted for 22.2 percent of total exports, followed by South Korea with USD1.72 billion or 17.5 percent of exports, then India with USD1.42 billion, accounting for 14.5 percent of exports.

Meanwhile, United States of America topped the list of countries of origin of Qatar’s imports with USD384.14 million, a share of 14.5 percent of the imports, followed by China with USD2.74 million or 10.2 percent, and Germany with USD219.51 million, which amounted for 7.7 percent of imports.