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Qatar’s Economy Expands 63 Per Cent to $29.7 Billion

DOHA - Qatar’s economy expanded 62.8 per cent at current prices in the third quarter to 108.39 billion riyals ($29.74 billion) on high energy prices, Qatar Statistics Authority data showed on Wednesday.

Oil prices hit a record high above $147 a barrel in July, before falling to virtually a quarter of that level this month.

Gross domestic product for Qatar, the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, has been soaring as the Gulf state expands its oil and gas sector and ploughs money into infrastructure, construction and manufacturing.

By the end of September, the economy had grown 12.3 per cent compared with the second quarter, the data showed.

Year-on-year GDP growth was spurred by an 80.8 per cent jump in the mining and quarrying sector, which includes oil and gas, to 68.43 billion riyals.

Qatar’s construction sector expanded 19.9 in the third quarter, while the manufacturing sector advanced 68.1 per cent.

Qatar is expected to see the fastest real GDP growth next year at 9.5 per cent as it continues to expand natural gas exports, a Reuters poll this month showed this month. The economy was seen expanding 12.6 per cent at constant prices this year, according to the poll.