Qatar: Economic and Political Overview
The Emirate’s economy is heavily concentrated in the gas industry, which represents two-thirds of its GDP and around 85% of export earnings. Following the 2022 FIFA World Cup, growth normalization persisted, with recent signs of strengthening activity. According to the IMF, real GDP is projected to gradually rise to 2% in 2024–25, driven by public investment, spillovers from the ongoing LNG expansion, and robust tourism. Over the medium term, growth is expected to accelerate to an average of 4.75%, fueled by a major LNG production boost and early benefits from reforms under the Third National Development Strategy (NDS3). With lower hydrocarbon prices, Qatar's current account and fiscal surpluses narrowed in 2023 to 17% and 5.5% of GDP, respectively, and moderated further in 2024. Over the medium term, despite a significant LNG production expansion, both surpluses are expected to persist but decline as a share of GDP due to falling hydrocarbon prices.
The overall fiscal surplus narrowed to 5.6% of GDP in 2023 and declined further in the first three quarters of 2024 as hydrocarbon revenues weakened. The 2024 budget had planned spending cuts of 2 percentage points of GDP from the 2023 outturn, mainly in capital expenditure, but fiscal data up to Q3 suggested milder cuts, closer to 1.5 percentage points of GDP. Despite this, the fiscal stance tightened, with the NHPB improving by around 0.75 percentage points of non-hydrocarbon GDP. Looking ahead, the 2025 budget outlines prudent spending plans amid a growth rebound, while the medium-term budget has been updated to align with NDS3 spending needs, maintaining a path of gradual fiscal consolidation (IMF data). Fitch Ratings expects Qatar's debt-to-GDP ratio to drop to around 43% by 2027, down from 49% in 2024 and a peak of 85% in 2020. This is based on the assumption that the government will refinance most of its upcoming external debt and pay down loans with a moderate budget surplus, excluding QIA investment income. How the government uses its fiscal surpluses in the future will determine the debt path going forward. Headline inflation dropped from 5% in 2022 to 3% in 2023 (average for the year) and slowed further to 1.2% by October 2024, as inflation in rent and recreation services eased. Producer prices and wage inflation stayed under control.
Qatar is overall a politically stable, rich country (it had one of the highest incomes per capita in the world in 2024 according to the IMF, estimated at USD 115,074 – PPP). It is estimated that 85% of the inhabitants are expatriates, whose rights are limited, despite the progress made with recent reforms. According to the World Bank, unemployment is almost null, representing 0.1% of the total labour force in 2023 (latest data available).
| Main Indicators | 2023 (E) | 2024 (E) | 2025 (E) | 2026 (E) | 2027 (E) |
| GDP (billions USD) | 213.00 | 221.41 | 226.22 | 242.14 | 262.19 |
| GDP (Constant Prices, Annual % Change) | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 5.8 | 7.9 |
| GDP per Capita (USD) | 69,541 | 71,568 | 72,760 | 77,492 | 83,493 |
| General Government Gross Debt (in % of GDP) | 43.3 | 41.2 | 40.2 | 38.9 | 36.8 |
| Inflation Rate (%) | 3.1 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 2.0 |
| Current Account (billions USD) | 36.47 | 29.74 | 30.03 | 31.18 | 37.18 |
| Current Account (in % of GDP) | 17.1 | 13.4 | 13.3 | 12.9 | 14.2 |
Source: IMF – World Economic Outlook Database, October 2021
Qatar’s agricultural sector is almost non-existent due to the country’s climate and a lack of arable land. It is estimated to account for only 0.3% of GDP, employing 1.7% of the workforce (World Bank, latest data available). Although Qatar experiences a dry climate, it has embraced and implemented sustainable and intelligent technologies, such as automated irrigation systems, hydroponics, and aquaponics, to improve both the quality and quantity of fruits and vegetables. The country is self-sufficient in fresh poultry and dairy.
The economy of Qatar is based on the oil and natural gas sectors: proved natural gas reserves represent 11% of the world total and the third-largest in the world (these reserves are primarily located in the offshore North Gas Field, shared with Iran), while proved oil reserves exceed 25.2 billion barrels, which means the production could continue for over 50 years at current levels. Qatar's liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry has attracted tens of billions of dollars in foreign investment and made Qatar the world’s third-largest exporter of this commodity (after the U.S.). Being the country’s main economic engine and government revenue source, Qatar is highly dependent on the oil & gas sector, thus after the drop in commodity prices in recent years, it tried to diversify its economy, focusing mainly on manufacturing, construction, leading non-oil GDP to steadily rise to just over half the total. Overall, the industrial sector contributes 60.4% of GDP and 39.4% of employment, while manufacturing accounts for 9% of GDP (World Bank). According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Qatar's industrial sector experienced growth in 2024 with the establishment of over 1,400 new industrial firms. The total production value of registered and licensed companies in the country rose to QAR 2.634 trillion, reflecting a 3% increase from QAR 2.557 trillion in 2023.
The services sector is based mainly on financial services and is estimated to account for 45.3% of GDP, giving employment to 58.9% of the active population (World Bank). According to official data, approximately 8% of the country's GDP in 2022 came from the financial sector (USD 19 billion), as Qatari banks maintain profitability, supported by robust capitalization and sufficient liquidity. Tourism is also an important economic sector: the “Qatar Tourism Strategy 2030” set a target to attract over 6 million international visitors a year by 2030. In 2024, Qatar surpassed its annual visitor arrivals target of 4.79 million, reaching 5.08 million visitors. This growth was accompanied by outstanding performance in the hospitality sector, with nearly 10 million room nights recorded, exceeding the initial target of 8.8 million (data Qatar Tourism). The transportation and storage sector’s contribution to Qatar’s GDP as of 2022 stood at USD 9.9 billion (latest official data available).
| Breakdown of Economic Activity By Sector | Agriculture | Industry | Services |
| Employment By Sector (in % of Total Employment) | 1.7 | 39.4 | 58.9 |
| Value Added (in % of GDP) | 0.3 | 60.4 | 45.3 |
| Value Added (Annual % Change) | 5.4 | 0.3 | 2.1 |
Source: World Bank, Latest Available Data. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.
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The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labour freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.}}
Economic freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Index of Economic Freedom, Heritage Foundation
The business rankings model measures the quality or attractiveness of the business environment in the 82 countries covered by The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Country Forecast reports. It examines ten separate criteria or categories, covering the political environment, the macroeconomic environment, market opportunities, policy towards free enterprise and competition, policy towards foreign investment, foreign trade and exchange controls, taxes, financing, the labour market and infrastructure.
Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit - Business Environment Rankings 2020-2024
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