Qatar’s successful economic diversification program continues to expand rapidly with the development of projects to produce and export natural gas in the form of LNG, piped gas, GTL and investments in petrochemicals, fertiliser and various other industries.
The government’s policy emphasises the optimal utilisation of Qatar’s large reserves of natural gas for downstream industries and/or as feedstock and also to further attract investment in the non-oil sectors of the economy.
These diversification efforts, coupled with a buoyant oil-sector, have led to rapid economic growth and the emergence of Qatar as one of the richest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita.
Qatar’s economy reached a significant milestone in 2008 with the Gas sector overtaking as the largest contributor to the economy, accounting for 30,8% of overall Gross Domestic Product ( GDP), according to data from the Qatar Statistics Authority.
The Gas sector contributed to QR 112,6 billion overall GDP, while the oil sector contributed QR100.2 billion.
Qatar’s nominal GDP growth reached a high of 40.9% in 2008, supported by the successful economic diversification into gas, which will be a key economic growth driver in the coming years.