Middle East economic data
For more, go to our GCC economic data and Mena economic data pages
Qatar economic indicators at a glance
Qatar nominal GDP
Qatar GDP per capita
Qatar GDP growth
Qatar oil breakeven prices
Qatar’s GDP dipped in 2020 and again in 2023, as seen in the nominal GDP and the GDP per capita charts.
The IMF is forecasting increases for the next few years. Qatar’s non-oil and oil GDP both rose in 2022 – with non-oil GDP up nearly 6 percent – but recorded much smaller increases the following year.
Qatar’s oil breakeven price hit the $50 mark in 2023 and has since fallen.
Qatar inflation
Qatar debt & current account balance
Qatar’s inflation hit 5 percent in 2022, but increases to the consumer price index have slowed since then. Government gross debt as a percentage of Qatar’s GDP is falling. Qatar’s current account balance reached $63.1 billion in 2022 and then plummeted in 2023, but is projected to inch up again.
Qatar trade
Qatar’s top 10 trade partners
Qatar’s trade picked up after the Covid pandemic but the export rate fell in 2023. The country’s imports and exports are both projected to increase from 2025. Qatar’s top exports include mineral fuels, oils, fertilisers and plastics, and its top imports include machinery, nuclear reactors, electronic equipment and vehicles.
Qatar foreign direct investment
Qatar credit ratings
Qatar governance
Qatar’s outward foreign direct investment has been volatile and on a general downward trajectory. Inward FDI into Qatar was steady before falling in 2018 and 2019. It is now slowly rising again.
Qatar has investment-grade ratings from Fitch, Moody’s and S&P Global. All three agencies say the outlook for Qatar is stable.
Qatar’s score in the Corruption Perceptions Index has dipped below 60 for the past three years. It was the GCC’s joint second best performer in the 2024 ranking, along with Saudi Arabia.
Qatar population
Qatar life expectancy
Qatar’s population rate has fluctuated but is now slowly increasing again. Life expectancy in Qatar fell in 2020, but is now rising.
Expats in Qatar
Qatar expats’ country of origin
Qatar’s expat population has fluctuated since 2000 – and particularly in the years it spent preparing to host the Fifa World Cup in 2022. Now about three quarters of people who live in Qatar are expats. Indians make up the biggest proportion of expat residents in Qatar, followed by migrants from Bangladesh and Nepal.
Qatar employment
Education in Qatar
Qatar has the lowest unemployment rates in the GCC. Qatar’s education scores have improved over the past decade in all three Pisa subjects, but they are still far below the OECD average.
The charts and tables on this page are for general information purposes only. AGBI aims to keep the information up-to-date and correct, but makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability of the information. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk. All IMF, World Bank and United Nations data on this page is publicly available.
The latest IMF World Economic Outlook was published on April 25, 2025. The IMF says medium-term projections for all six GCC economies have been revised “based on developments in commodity markets and international trade as of April 4”.
