Asian countries have occupied a dominating position in Qatar’s exports during nine months of 2020. All five countries in the top five export destinations for Qatari exports are from Asia.
Japan has emerged as a top destination for Qatar’s export in the first nine months of this year. According to the Planning and Statistics Authority data, Qatar’s total exports to Japan is around QR21.17bn during the nine months of 2020, which is the highest export to any country during this year.
China comes second in the list after Japan in terms of exports from Qatar. Total export to China during the first nine months of this year was around QR20.56bn. After China, it is India which has taken the third in the ranking of top export destination of Qatari exports.
Total export to India during the three quarters of this year was around QR19.34bn. South Korea and Singapore have occupied fourth and fifth position in Qatari exports. South Korea imported goods worth QR17.8bn from Qatar in nine months while Singapore imported goods worth QR8.7bn in eight months from Qatar. The data of exports from Qatar to Singapore in June was not available as Taiwan had replaced it as the fifth largest export destination of Qatar’s export.
The exports have again beginning to see upward momentum after facing slowdown due to impact of COVID-19 outbreak. The exports had declined in April due to lack of demand from importing countries due to lockdown imposed by those nations. In April this year, the exports from Qatar had decline to QR11.8bn from QR15.9bn in a month earlier in March due to COVID-19 pandemic. But, since then the exports have started to rise, signalling a recovery in exports due to demand from importing countries. In June, the exports stood at QR12.7bn while next month in July it increased to QR13.6bn. Maintaining growth momentum, exports from Qatar increased to QR14bn in August this year. In the third quarter of this year, the value of Qatar’s total exports amounted to QR41.1bn. The total exports of goods amounted to around QR13.4bn, in September 2020. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), mineral fuels, lubricants, chemicals and related products constitute major export items from Qatar.
