Qatar's GDP per capita expected to scale up to $76,638 in 2023

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Qatar's GDP per capita will account for $63,482 this year and scale up to $76,638 in 2023, FocusEconomics has said in its latest country report.

Next year, it may reach $66,658, $69,889 (2021) and $73,216 (2022), FocusEconomics said.

The report has estimated Qatar's international reserves at $30.4bn this year and $35.2bn in 2023.

The international reserves will cover 8.4 months of imports in 2023 as against 10.5 months this year, it said.

Qatar's gross domestic product is expected to reach $218bn by 2023, the report said. By the year-end, Qatar's GDP will total $178bn.

Qatar's economic growth in terms of nominal GDP will reach 4.9% in 2023 from 4.2% by the year-end.

Qatar's fiscal balance (as a percentage of the country's GDP) will be 3.2% in 2023 compared to 0.2% this year.

The country's public debt (as a percentage of GDP) is expected to fall to 45.9% in 2023 in place of 53.8% in end-2018.

Qatar's public debt will fall gradually until 2023, the report said. Next year, it will be 53.3% (as a percentage of the country's GDP), 50.7% (2021) and 48.3% (2022).

The current account balance (as a percentage of the country's GDP) will be 7.9% in 2023 compared with 7% in 2019.

Qatar's merchandise trade balance, FocusEconomics said, will be $54.4bn in 2023. This year, it will account for $47.5bn.

The country's inflation, the report noted, will be under 2% (estimated at 1.9%) in 2023 from 1.5% this year.

Qatar's unemployment rate (as a percentage of active population) will remain a meagre 0.2% in 2023, unchanged from this year.

FocusEconomics said Qatar's growth this year will likely be supported by higher hydrocarbon production, government spending and infrastructure projects.

FocusEconomics panellists forecast 2.7% growth in 2019, which is down 0.2 percentage points from last month's estimate, and 2.9% in 2020.

The latest indicators suggest the economy continued to grow at a moderate pace in the fourth quarter of 2018, FocusEconomics said. The annual trade surplus increased throughout Q4 thanks to a surge in exports, on higher oil prices in the early part of the quarter and strong gas exports throughout the period.

Moreover, it said private credit growth surged, which bodes well for the non-oil sector. However, industrial production contracted in month-on-month terms in October and November.

Looking ahead to the first quarter of this year, FocusEconomics opined that 'Qatar's withdrawal from Opec frees it from production curbs, which should support the oil sector somewhat.

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