Dubai Qatar's economy expanded 14 per cent in inflation-adjusted terms last year as energy exports gave it one of the highest growth rates in the world, although the pace was slower than analysts had expected, preliminary data from the Statistics Authority showed Wednesday.
The real gross domestic product of the world's top liquefied natural gas exporter grew 4.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of 2011, and 14.7 per cent on an annual basis, the data revealed.
Last year's growth was below a consensus estimate of 17.5 per cent given by a Reuters poll of analysts, and below the latest estimate by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of 18.7 per cent. A statement from the statistics authority did not explain the discrepancy.
Qatar's economy relies on hydrocarbons for over half of its output, making growth rates volatile.
The economy expanded 16.6 per cent in 2010, according to an IMF estimate.
Moratorium
Growth is expected to slow to 6.6 per cent this year as the impact of two decades of gas output expansion fades, largely because Qatar has put a self-imposed moratorium on new hydrocarbon projects to conserve resources, according to the latest Reuters poll of analysts.
But that would still be the fastest rate in the Gulf.
"We do see a slowdown in the headline rate in 2012, but the focus will switch from export volume growth — which doesn't necessarily feel like 14 per cent growth — to domestic demand, so it's still a positive picture," said Liz Martins, senior regional economist at HSBC in Dubai.
"Drivers of domestic demand will be increased credit growth, wage rises and strong government spending."
Heavy government investment in infrastructure will sustain annual growth in the non-hydrocarbon sector of between 9 and 10 per cent beyond 2012, the IMF said in January.
