Table 1.a.
Shows that GDP of QATAR in 2020 was QR 525,657 million. In 2020 consumption (C) of Qatar was QR 136,549 million; investment (I), QR 230,497 million, Government Purchases (G), QR 115,410 million.
It is apparent from Table 1.a. that major component of GDP of Qatar is exports and Investments for year 2020, similar to other oil-producing economies.
Table 1.a.– Components of GDP of Qatar at Current Prices
Source: Planning and Statistics Authority Qatar
| Million QR | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Government | 107,941 | 103,274 | 108,649 | 118,535 | 115,410 |
| Consumption | 138,571 | 144,821 | 147,185 | 150,673 | 136,549 |
| Investments | 273,317 | 254,544 | 277,735 | 280,778 | 230,497 |
| Exports of goods & Services | 263,526 | 310,144 | 373,322 | 335,048 | 258,197 |
| Imports of Goods & Services | 231,050 | 226,381 | 239,552 | 243,042 | 214,995 |
| GDP (Current Market Price) |
552,305.1 | 586,400.8 | 667,339.2 | 641,991.4 | 525,657.4 |
The Table 1.b.
Reflects that in 2020, exports account for 49.1% of GDP which is followed by investments, that is, 44% of GDP whereas consumption made up 26% of GDP of Qatar.
Government expenditures though remained volatile now increased to 22% of GDP in 2020.
Table 1.b. – Percent Share of Components of GDP of Qatar
Source: Planning and Statistics Authority Qatar
| Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Government | 19.5% | 17.6% | 16.3% | 18.5% | 22.0% |
| Consumption | 25.1% | 24.7% | 22.1% | 23.5% | 26.0% |
| Investments | 49.5% | 43.4% | 41.6% | 43.7% | 43.8% |
| Exports of goods & Services | 47.7% | 52.9% | 55.9% | 52.2% | 49.1% |
| Imports of Goods & Services | 41.8% | 38.6% | 35.9% | 37.9% | 40.9% |
Table 1.c.
Tells us a story of annual growth of GDP and its components. Both 2019 and 2020 Qatar’s economy did not perform well. It shrank by 3.8% per annum in 2019 and 18.1% per annum in 2020.
Economies are complex entities and economics is full of opposing theories. A massive decline in GDP is mainly due to the pandemic and global supply side disruption. A closer examination of figures reflects that the decline in GDP during 2019 was mainly due to decrease in exports whereas all components of GDP posted negative growth in 2020.
The contraction in investment spending and net exports declined considerably whereas the decline in consumption spending and government purchases was moderate.
Table 1.c. – Annual Growth Rate of Components of GDP of Qatar
Source: Planning and Statistics Authority Qatar
| Year | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Government | -4.32 | 5.21 | 9.10 | -2.64 |
| Consumption | 4.51% | 1.63 | 2.37 | -9.37 |
| Investments | -6.87 | 9.11 | 1.10 | -17.91 |
| Exports of goods & Services | 17.69 | 20.37 | -10.25 | -22.94 |
| Imports of Goods & Services | -2.02 | 5.82 | 1.46 | -11.54 |
| GDP Growth | 6.2 | 13.8 | (3.8) | (18.1) |
Table 2.a
provides the GDP and its components by the nature of the economic activity. It is observed that mining and quarrying activity remained highly volatile from 2016-2020.
Another sector with the second-highest volatility was the manufacturing sector over the same period. Sectors including ‘Mining & Quarring’, ‘Manufacturing’, ‘Transportation &Storage’, ‘Accommodation & food service activities’, ‘Arts, entertainment & recreation; Other service activities’ and ‘Wholesale & Retail’ depicts a decreasing trend and posted a double-digit negative average growth over 2016-2020.
Table 2.a. – Gross Domestic Product by Kind of Economic Activity at Current Prices
Source: Planning and Statistics Authority Qatar
| QR Million | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 1,015.5 | 1,259.2 | 1,456.5 | 1,669.2 | 1,780.7 |
| Mining and Quarrying | 163,983.5 | 199,405.2 | 260,197.7 | 229,321.6 | 152,343.0 |
| Manufacturing | 46,813.8 | 47,188.7 | 54,971.6 | 53,500.8 | 41,586.1 |
| Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply; water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities | 5,979.3 | 6,784.9 | 5,180.4 | 5,894.2 | 6,053.1 |
| Construction | 79,040.0 | 79,040.0 | 82,600.0 | 78,274.9 | 75,112.3 |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 46,980.5 | 47,434.0 | 49,793.6 | 50,063.8 | 44,068.6 |
| Transportation and storage | 24,927.2 | 22,425.8 | 26,002.0 | 27,270.5 | 21,403.5 |
| Accommodation and food service activities | 5,620.3 | 5,455.7 | 5,408.9 | 5,566.9 | 4,738.7 |
| Information and communication | 9,809.7 | 9,579.5 | 9,618.0 | 9,530.9 | 9,566.1 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 47,018.6 | 48,338.9 | 49,141.5 | 52,014.7 | 53,489.7 |
| Real Estate | 42,776.0 | 43,284.3 | 42,615.3 | 41,422.0 | 39,585.4 |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities;Administrative and support service activities | 21,080.4 | 21,397.3 | 21,040.4 | 20,982.0 | 19,261.9 |
| Public administration and defence; compulsory social security | 43,857.3 | 39,466.2 | 48,314.8 | 52,674.7 | 48,255.5 |
| Education | 12,089.1 | 12,570.8 | 11,496.1 | 11,945.9 | 11,558.8 |
| Human health and social work activities | 14,008.7 | 14,541.8 | 11,698.8 | 13,808.6 | 13,771.4 |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation; Other service activities | 8,465.5 | 8,868.7 | 8,271.0 | 8,606.4 | 7,524.9 |
| Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods and services producing activities of households for own use | 3,816.7 | 4,006.5 | 4,172.2 | 4,347.7 | 4,027.7 |
| Financial Intermediation Services Indirectly Measured (FISIM) | (24,153.2) | (25,473.8) | (26,557.5) | (28,426.4) | (31,556.4) |
| Import duties | 1,137.4 | 827.1 | 1,918.0 | 3,522.9 | 3,086.5 |
Table 2.b.
clearly indicate that the leading activity in generating GDP in Qatar has been the mining and quarrying sector with an average share of the production of 35% between 2018 and 2020.
The second leading sector of GDP in Qatar has been constructed during the same period.
A decline in the share of mining and quarrying in GDP can be traced back to the introduction of electric vehicles accompanied by the global transition from oil as a primary source of energy have caused major oil-producing economies to shift toward non-oil economic activities.
Table 2.b. – Percent Share of Economic Activities in GDP of Qatar
Source: Planning and Statistics Authority Qatar
| Percentage (%) | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| Mining and Quarrying | 29.7% | 34.0% | 39.0% | 35.7% | 29.0% |
| Manufacturing | 8.5% | 8.0% | 8.2% | 8.3% | 7.9% |
| Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply; water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities | 1.1% | 1.2% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 1.2% |
| Construction | 14.0% | 13.5% | 12.4% | 12.2% | 14.3% |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 8.5% | 8.1% | 7.5% | 7.8% | 8.4% |
| Transportation and storage | 4.5% | 3.8% | 3.9% | 4.2% | 4.1% |
| Accommodation and food service activities | 1.0% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.9% |
| Information and communication | 1.8% | 1.6% | 1.4% | 1.5% | 1.8% |
| Financial and insurance activities | 8.5% | 8.2% | 7.4% | 8.1% | 10.2% |
| Real Estate | 7.7% | 7.4% | 6.4% | 6.5% | 7.5% |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities;Administrative and support service activities | 3.8% | 3.6% | 3.2% | 3.3% | 3.7% |
| Public administration and defence; compulsory social security | 7.9% | 6.7% | 7.2% | 8.2% | 9.2% |
| Education | 2.2% | 2.1% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 2.2% |
| Human health and social work activities | 2.5% | 2.5% | 1.8% | 2.2% | 2.6% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation; Other service activities | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 1.4% |
| Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods and services producing activities of households for own use | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.8% |
| Financial Intermediation Services Indirectly Measured (FISIM) | -4.4% | -4.3% | -4.0% | -4.4% | -6.0% |
| Import duties | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 0.6% |
Table 2.c.
provides us with the annual growth rate of economic activities in GDP in Qatar. From Table 2.c, we observe that because of the Coronavirus Pandemic almost all activities in 2020 had minimal to negative growth.
Notably, Mining and Quarrying which accounted for the highest share of GDP underwent into highest contraction of around 34 percent which is followed by manufacturing by 22.3%. Sectors that witnessed the highest increase include ‘Financial Services’ and ‘Agriculture’.
Table 2.c. – Annual Growth Rate of Economic Activities in GDP of Qatar
Source: Planning and Statistics Authority Qatar
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 24.00 | 15.67 | 14.60 | 6.68 |
| Mining and Quarrying | 21.60 | 30.49 | -11.87 | -33.57 |
| Manufacturing | 0.80 | 16.49 | -2.68 | -22.27 |
| Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply; water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities | 13.47 | -23.65 | 13.78 | 2.69 |
| Construction | 2.54 | 4.50 | -5.24 | -4.04 |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 0.97 | 4.97 | 0.54 | -11.98 |
| Transportation and storage | -10.03 | 15.95 | 4.88 | -21.51 |
| Accommodation and food service activities | -2.93 | -0.86 | 2.92 | -14.88 |
| Information and communication | -2.35 | 0.40 | -0.91 | 0.37 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 2.81 | 1.66 | 5.85 | 2.84 |
| Real Estate | 1.19 | -1.55 | -2.80 | -4.43 |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities;Administrative and support service activities | 1.50 | -1.67 | -0.28 | -8.20 |
| Public administration and defence; compulsory social security | -10.01 | 22.42 | 9.02 | -8.39 |
| Education | 3.98 | -8.55 | 3.91 | -3.24 |
| Human health and social work activities | 3.81 | -19.55 | 18.03 | -0.27 |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation; Other service activities | 4.76 | -6.74 | 4.06 | -12.57 |
| Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods and services producing activities of households for own use | 4.97 | 4.14 | 4.21 | -7.36 |
| Financial Intermediation Services Indirectly Measured (FISIM) | 5.47 | 4.25 | 7.04 | 11.01 |
| Import duties | -27.28 | 131.89 | 83.67 | -12.39 |
Let’s now focus on the 2019 GDP of Qatar. Based on Table 3.a., the compensation of employees was QR 179,057 million.
The Gross Operating surplus of businesses was QR 456,372 million SAR, whereas taxes and subsidies were QR 8,366 million and QR 1,804.6 million respectively.
Table 3a– Statistics for GDP of Qatar by Income Approach
Source: Planning and Statistics Authority Qatar
| QR Million | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Compensation of Employees | 164,875 | 165,779 | 170,888 | 179,057 |
| Taxes on Production and Imports | 2,726 | 2,372 | 4,043 | 8,366 |
| Subsidies (-) | -362.00 | -841.61 | -1325.92 | -1804.61 |
| Gross Operating Surplus/Mixed Income | 385,065 | 419,091 | 493,735 | 456,372 |
Based on Table 3b, we observe that in 2019, the share of compensation of employees was 27.9% of GDP, whereas the share of the gross operating surplus of businesses was 71.1%.
In sum, the share of employees in GDP was less than that of employers in 2020. In fact, we can argue that (based on Table 3.a. and Table 3.b.), in the period between 2016 to 2020, employers had more share of GDP than employees in Qatar.
In the United States of America, on the other hand, employees have a significantly higher share of GDP than employers.
Table 3b– Statistics for GDP of Qatar by Income Approach
Source: Planning and Statistics Authority Qatar
| Percentage Share (%) | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Compensation of Employees | 29.9% | 28.3% | 25.6% | 27.9% |
| Taxes on Production and Imports | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 1.3% |
| Subsidies | -0.1% | -0.1% | -0.2% | -0.3% |
| Gross Operating Surplus/Mixed Income | 69.7% | 71.5% | 74.0% | 71.1% |
Table 3.c
Reflects that the Taxes on Production and Imports increased substantially in 2019 whereas Gross Operating Surplus posted negative growth. The compensation of employees also witnessed positive growth in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Table 3c– Statistics for GDP of Qatar by Income Approach
Source: Planning and Statistics Authority Qatar
| Annual Growth (%) | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Compensation of Employees | - | 0.55 | 3.08 | 4.78 |
| Taxes on Production and Imports | - | -12.98 | 70.40 | 106.95 |
| Subsidies | - | 132.49 | 57.55 | 36.10 |
| Gross Operating Surplus/Mixed Income | - | 8.84 | 17.81 | -7.57 |
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates