Doha – Decypha: Qatar’s foreign merchandise trade balance showed an increase of QR12.3 billion in February, rising by 74% in comparison to February 2016, according to data announced by the Qatari Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics.

The trade balance, which represents the difference between total exports and imports, has also showed positive performance for the previous month of January, which showed a 12.1% increase in comparison to January 2016.

In terms of exports, the country’s total exports, including both exports of goods of domestic origin as well as re-exports, for the month of February 2017 hit a total of QR20.5 billion, rising by 22.5% in comparison to February 2016 figures, and slightly growing by 0.8% from January 2017’s figures.

The rise in exports is mainly due to an increase in the country’s exports of petroleum products, as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG), which amounted to QR12.2 billion in 2017, increasing by 18.9% year-on-year, according to Qatari The Peninsula

On the other hand, Qatar’s imports have recorded a decline, reaching an amount of QR8.2 billion, a 15.4% decrease that February 2016 figures, and in terms of month-to-month basis recording a 12.6% fall.

Leading imports, was the automotive industry, which recorded imports of QR0.5 billion, falling 34.4% than the previous year.

As for countries, China led the country’s imports for the year with a 12.9% share in total imports, hitting a value of QR1.05 billion.

By Decypha Editorial Team