Qatar economy expands to $23.2bn

ECONOMIC BOOM: Qatar's economy expanded to $23.2 billion during the first quarter. (Getty Images)

Qatar's economy expanded to 84.3 billion riyals ($23.16 billion) at current prices at the end of March, a gain of 15.3 percent from the fourth quarter, Qatar Statistics Authority data showed.

First-quarter gross domestic product for the world's top exporter of liquefied natural gas almost doubled from an estimated 44.7 billion riyals in the corresponding quarter in 2007, according to previous data published by the Qatar planning council.

Nominal GDP was 73.1 billion riyals at the end of December, Qatar Statistics said on Tuesday, according to the state-run Qatar News Agency (QNA).

The mining and quarrying sector, which includes oil and gas and accounts for 60.6 percent of GDP, grew 13.9 percent quarter-on-quarter to 51.1 billion riyals, it said. The value of energy sector output was 44.9 billion riyals at the end of the fourth quarter.

Compared with previous planning council data, the oil and gas sector soared 110.8 percent from 24.24 billion riyals in the first quarter of 2007.

Staggering growth in the world's biggest oil-exporting region is underpinned by a more than six-fold rise in oil prices since 2002. Oil prices have about doubled in the last year.

Gulf Arab economies will surge 35 percent this year on an oil price windfall, ING said last week. It expects Qatar's economy to surge 38.4 percent this year in nominal terms. (Reuters)

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