By Satish Kanady
DOHA: Giving clear signals that Qatar’s strategic plan to diversify its economy is bearing fruit, the country’s non-mining sector has grown 8.5 percent in Q2 2012 on year-on-year basis versus a 0.8 percent growth in the mining sector during the same period.
The main contributors of non-mining sector are manufacturing, construction, transport & communication and finance, insurance, real estate and business services.
The Gross Value Added (GVA) in non-mining sectors increased in nominal terms by 16.9 percent over the estimates of Q2, 2011, a key document released yesterday by Qatar Statistics Authority (QSA) noted.
QSA’s “Window on Economic Statistics Qatar 2012” noted GDP for Q2 2012 was estimated at QR173.36bn, showing an increase, in nominal terms, of 11.9 percent over the corresponding quarter in 2011, but a drop of 1.1 percent over the previous quarter.
“Growth in Manufacturing reflects the economic diversification taking place in the economy. Expansion of the existing capacity and new production plants for the manufacture of downstream hydro-carbon products such as GTL, polymers, methanol as well as growth in the manufacture of other product groups-iron, steel and fertilizers- contributed to the growth momentum. The share of Manufacturing in GDP during 2006-11 has hovered around 10 percent”, the QSA said.
Manufacturing sector grew by 8.0 percent on year-on-year basis. While the Construction sector grew 10.0 percent, Transport & Communication saw 18.0 percent growth. Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services sector is up 12.1 percent during the period.
Between 2006 and 2011, gross value added (GVA) of Manufacturing increased threefold from QR20.617bn in 2006 to QR62.690bn. In nominal terms, GVA increased on average by 24.9 percent annually, and in volume terms, by 13.8 percent annually. The highest growth rate of 22.4 percent, in real terms, was recorded in 2010. The growth rate for 2011 tapered off to 7.9 percent.
The report noted the level of activity in the construction sector, a barometer of the performance of the economy, was subdued for the last three years. The growth rate in 2009 is estimated at 6.9 percent and almost zero growth in 2010, and 4.9 percent in 2011.
The Peninsula
