That projected dollar amount reflects a 37.2% increase compared to $72.9 billion five years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the overall value of Qatar’s exported products shrank by -23.6% starting from $131 billion for 2022.
Located on the Arabian Peninsula’s northeast coast, the State of Qatar borders with Saudi Arabia while sharing sea borders on the Persian Gulf with the United Arab Emirates and Iran.
Qatar’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 82.9% of products exported from Qatar was bought by importers in: mainland China (15.9% of the Qatari total), India (11.6%), South Korea (10.9%), Japan (9.6%), United Kingdom (6.5%), Belgium (5.5%), Singapore (5.1%), Italy (4.9%), United Arab Emirates (4.4%), Pakistan (3%), Thailand (2.8%) and France (2.7%).
From a continental perspective, 73.6% of Qatar’s exports by value was delivered to Asian countries while 23.4% was sold to importers in Europe. Qatar shipped another 1.4% worth of goods to North America.
Smaller percentages went to customers in Africa (0.9%), Oceania (0.4%) led by Australia and New Zealand, then Latin America (0.3%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
Given Qatar’s population of 2.84 million people, its total US$100.1 billion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $35,300 for every resident in the Middle Eastern country. That dollar metric lags the average $40,700 per capita one year earlier during 2022.
Qatar’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Qatari global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Qatar.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$87.8 billion (87.7% of total exports)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $2.2 billion (2.2%)
- Aluminum: $1.83 billion (1.8%)
- Fertilizers: $1.82 billion (1.8%)
- Inorganic chemicals: $1.4 billion (1.4%)
- Organic chemicals: $1 billion (1%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $791.5 million (0.8%)
- Iron, steel: $470.1 million (0.5%)
- Gems, precious metals: $428.2 million (0.4%)
- Machinery including computers: $188.7 million (0.2%)
Qatar’s top 10 exports accounted for 97.9% of the overall value of global Qatari shipments.
Gems and precious metals was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 256.6% from 2022 to 2023. That product category was propelled by stronger international revenues from jewelry and diamonds exported by Qatar.
The other winner in terms of improving export sales were the metals iron and steel via a 21.2% advance.
The leading decliner among Qatar’s top 10 export categories was fertilizers, pulled down by a -49.1% year-over-year drop.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, petroleum gases were Qatar’s most valuable exported product worth 50.7% of the country’s total. In second place was crude oil (22.9%) trailed by refined petroleum oils (14%), ethylene polymers (2.2%), nitrogenous fertilizers (1.8%), unwrought aluminum (1.7%), hydrogen and rare gases (1%), non-sublimed sulphur (0.8%), acyclic hydrocarbons (0.5%) and jewelry (0.4%).
Qatar’s trio of largest exports by value–petroleum gases, crude oil and refined petroleum oils–reveal a highly concentrated portfolio of exported goods. Combined, the top 3 most valuable accounted for 87.6% of the Middle Eastern country’s overall export sales during 2023.
Products Resulting in Qatar’s Largest Trade Surpluses
Qatar posted an estimated US$68.2 billion trade surplus during 2023, falling by -30% from $97.5 billion in black ink one year earlier for 2022.
The following types of Qatari product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$87.3 billion (Down by -23.2% since 2023)
- Fertilizers: $1.8 billion (Down by -49.1%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $1.8 billion (Down by -32.6%)
- Aluminum: $1.7 billion (Down by -11.7%)
- Organic chemicals: $907.5 million (Down by -23.6%)
- Inorganic chemicals: $871.8 million (Down by -1.2%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $743.3 million (Up by 24.7%)
- Iron, steel: $138.6 million (Down by -330.1%)
- Copper: $99.1 million (Reversing a -$60.2 million deficit)
- Lead: $16.3 million (Reversing a -$362.8 million deficit)
Qatar has highly positive net exports in the international trade of mineral fuels-related goods notably petroleum gases and both crude and refined petroleum oils. In turn, these cashflows indicate Qatar’s strong competitive advantages under the mineral fuels including oil product category.
Products Causing Qatar’s Worst Trade Deficits
Below are exports from Qatar that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Qatar’s goods trail Qatari importer spending on foreign products.
- Machinery including computers: US-$4.9 billion (Down by -5.1% since 2023)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: -$4.8 billion (Up by 533.4%)
- Vehicles: -$3 billion (Up by 69.6%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$1.9 billion (Down by -29.1%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$1.9 billion (Up by 63.8%)
- Gems, precious metals: -$1.5 billion (Up by 42.5%)
- Arms, ammunition: -$873.5 million (Down by -49.4%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$781.7 million (Up by 32.4%)
- Ships, boats: -$762 million (Reversing a $767.4 million surplus)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: -$583.6 million (Down by -45.4%)
Qatar has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for products under the machinery including computers category.
Qatari Export Companies
Eight Qatari corporations rank among Forbes Global 2000 albeit many of these are in the financial services. Below are selected samples from the Forbes listing.
- Qatar National Bank (regional bank)
- Ooredoo Telecom (telecommunications services)
- Industries Qatar (specialized chemicals)
Wikipedia lists exports-related companies from Qatar. Selected examples are shown below.
- Qatar National Cement Company (cement manufacturing)
- Qatar Petroleum (oil, gas)
- Qatar Steel (steel, other basic materials)
- Qatargas (natural gas)
- RasGas (natural gas)
In macroeconomic terms, Qatar’s total exported goods represent 30.5% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($328.1 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 30.5% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 35.4% for 2022. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Qatar’s total economic performance, albeit based on a relatively short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Qatar’s unemployment rate was 0.1% at December 2023, same as an average 0.1% one year prior according to Trading Economics statistics.
Qatar’s capital city is Doha.
See also World’s Richest Export Countries, Japan’s Top Trading Partners, India’s Top Trading Partners and South Korea’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on August 29, 2024
Forbes 2019 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 29, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on August 29, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 29, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 29, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on August 29, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Qatar. Accessed on August 29, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on August 29, 2024
Wikipedia, Qatar. Accessed on August 29, 2024