General Information » Economy » Qatar Overview

Thanks mainly to its abundant reserves of oil and gas, and the high prices these have commanded in recent years, Qatar has one of the strongest and fastest growing economies in the world. Analysts predict that in the near future, the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita will overtake that of Switzerland, effectively making Qatar the richest nation on earth.

Qatar’s GDP for 2006 was over QR 191 billion, a 24.2% increase on the previous year. The sector officially referred to as Mining and Quarrying (which covers the extraction and production of oil and gas) accounted for 62% of the GDP, proving that Qatar’s economy is very much reliant on hydrocarbons. The other significant contributors to GDP were Government Services (9.6%), Manufacturing (7.7%), Finance, Insurance, Real Estate & Business Services (6.7%), Building & Construction (5.2%), Trade, Restaurants & Hotels (4.2%), Transport & Communications (2.8%), and Electricity & Water (2.2%).

In an effort to boost oil production, significant sums have been invested to locate additional oil fields and to prolong the productive life of existing ones. Proven oil reserves currently stand at 15 billion barrels. However, in order to become less reliant on oil and diversify the economy to some degree, Qatar is investing heavily in its liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. The country’s natural gas reserves stand at 910 trillion cubic feet, ranking Qatar third in the world behind Russia and Iran. In 2004, Qatargas exported 9.3 million tons of LNG, but they hope to increase exports to 17.3 million tons per annum by 2009 and 25.2 million tons by 2012, by which time Qatar will be the world’s largest producer of LNG.

To achieve this, Qatar Petroleum is set to invest $75 billion in its hydrocarbon industries in the next five years. This expansion will lead to an increase in the number of staff working in the industry, who in turn will need more housing, healthcare, retail, leisure and entertainment facilities. In addition, $15 billion will be spent on the country’s infrastructure.

Qatar’s main exports are crude oil, natural gas and petroleum, with the main export partners being Japan, South Korea, Singapore and more recently India. Qatar’s main import partners are the US and Japan.

In 2004, Standard & Poor’s updated their outlook on Qatar from stable to positive. Their credit rating for the country’s currency is A+.