Qatar's trade surplus jumped 129.1 percent year-on-year to QAR 19 billion in October of 2018 from a QAR 8.3 billion surplus a year earlier. It was the largest trade surplus since December 2014, as exports surged while imports tumbled. Exports soared 37.1 percent to QAR 28.8 billion, due to higher sales of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons (48%); petroleum oils and oils from bituminous minerals - not crude (71%), and petroleum oils & oils from bituminous - crude (10.5%). Main exports partners were South Korea (17% of total exports); Japan (16.2% share), and India (13% share). Imports tumbled 22.9 percent to QAR 9.8 billion, mainly due to a fall in purchases of motor cars and other passenger vehicles, the country's top imports (-15.1 percent). The highest share of imports came from the US (16.4% of total imports); China (12.8% share), and the UK (11.2% share). Balance of Trade in Qatar averaged 25114.38 QAR Million from 2004 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 98671 QAR Million in August of 2012 and a record low of 4795 QAR Million in April of 2016.
Balance of Trade in Qatar is expected to be 16800.00 QAR Million by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Balance of Trade in Qatar to stand at 19387.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Qatar Balance of Trade is projected to trend around 8600.00 QAR Million in 2020, according to our econometric models.