Oman GDP logs healthy first quarter gain

Muscat: The Sultanate’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose at the end of the first quarter of 2018 by 6.5 per cent to reach OMR7,034.4 million, compared to OMR6,605.7 million in the same period of 2017, according to statistics released by the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Oil activities led to a growth of 16.5 per cent, recording OMR2,336.4 million, compared to OMR2,006.1 million at the end of the first quarter of 2017. The share of crude oil from oil activities as at the end of the first quarter amounted to OMR1,713.1 million, an increase of 1.1 per cent from the end of the first quarter of 2017, in which crude oil recorded OMR1,695.3 million.
Natural gas increased by 100.6 per cent to OMR623.2 million, up from OMR310.8 million by the end of the first quarter of 2017.
At the end of the first quarter of 2018, total non-oil activities amounted to OMR4,929.3 million, an increase of 2 per cent over the end of the first quarter of 2017.
The contribution of non-oil activities amounted to OMR4,832.2 million.
Services activities were at the forefront of non-oil activities and amounted to OMR3,534.3 million, a growth of 1.5 per cent over the end of the first quarter of 2017, in which service activities recorded of OMR3,480.7 million.
The sub-sectors of service activities recorded an increase in transport, storage and communications by 6.9 per cent, hotels and restaurants by 7.2 per cent, real estate, leasing and business activities by 6.5 per cent, financial intermediaries by 7.3 per cent and wholesale and retail by 6.5 per cent.
Public administration and defense activities fell by 4.9 per cent and other services dropped by 2.9 per cent.
Industrial activities
The industrial activities recorded OMR1,215.8 million at the end of the first quarter of 2018, an increase of 2.6 per cent over the end of the first quarter of 2017, which recorded OMR1,184.9 million.
The manufacturing sector led that rise, recording 17.8 per cent growth from the end of the first quarter of 2017, followed by mining and quarrying sector with 15 per cent.
Basic chemical industry activities increased by 13.8 per cent, other manufacturing industries by 22.1 per cent, electricity and water supply by 0.7 per cent. Construction activities fell by 12.6 per cent.
The activities related to agriculture and fisheries increased by 7.6 per cent to reach OMR179.2 million, compared to OMR166.5 million at the end of the first quarter of 2017.