The trade surplus in Qatar decreased to QAR 13.77 billion in February of 2019 from QAR 14.03 billion in the corresponding month of the previous year, as exports declined 0.5 percent to QAR 22.26 billion, dragged down by lower sales of crude petroleum oils & oils obtained from bituminous minerals (-14.3%) and not crude petroleum oils & oils obtained from bituminous minerals (-15.1%). Meanwhile, shipments of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons increased 6%. Among top export partners, exports fell to South Korea (-7.7%) and India (-25.5%), but rose to Japan (9.3%), China (22.1%) and Singapore (30.1%). Meanwhile, imports went up 1.9 percent to QAR 8.49 billion, due mainly to purchases of parts of balloons; parts of aircraft & spacecraft (71.4%). On the other hand, vehicles imports dropped 35.9%. Imports rose from China (27.1%), the US (3.7%), Germany (94.8%) and the UK (24.7%), but were down from India (-25.3%). Balance of Trade in Qatar averaged 24526.60 QAR Million from 2004 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 98671 QAR Million in August of 2012 and a record low of 4795 QAR Million in April of 2016.
Balance of Trade in Qatar is expected to be 0.00 QAR Million by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Balance of Trade in Qatar to stand at 15820.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Qatar Balance of Trade is projected to trend around 16450.00 QAR Million in 2020, according to our econometric models.