Non-oil sector grows by 35 per cent

MUSCAT: The Sultanate’s GDP by the end of second quarter of 2017 registered a growth of 12.3 per cent at the current prices to touch RO 13,001.4 billion compared to RO 11,577.8 billion during the corresponding period last year. The statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) pointed out that the non-oil activities recorded the highest growth rate with 34.9 per cent to hit RO 4,229.3 billion compared to RO 3,134.1 billion during the corresponding period last year. The share of oil activities by the end of Q2 stood at RO 3,583.8 billion; a growth by 42.3 per cent compared to RO 2,518.9 billion during the second quarter 2016.

The contribution of natural gas activities grew by 4.9 per cent to hit RO 645.4 million compared to RO 615.2 million at the end of the Q2, 2016. The total non-oil activities registered RO 9,134.7 billion at the end of the second quarter in 2017, a growth by 3.8 per cent compared to RO 8,798.3 billion during the corresponding period in 2016. The service activities topped the list of non-oil activities with RO 6,397.8 billion, a growth of 6 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year.

The sub sectors of the service activities registered 13.5 per cent growth in wholesale, 7.8 per cent in transport, stores and communication, 1.6 per cent restaurants and hotels, 6.4 per cent real estate, rent and business project.

While the contribution of the public administration and defence remained the same, the financial brokerage activities declined by 0.8 per cent and the other services grew by 10.6 per cent.

The industrial activities registered RO 2,535.8 billion at the end of second quarter, a growth of 0.1 per cent compared to RO 2,532.9 billion at the end of the corresponding period last year.

The basic industrial chemicals topped the list of growth with 16.9 per cent compared to the same period in 2016, followed by the mining and quarries sector with 9.4 per cent, manufacturing industries with 5.7 per cent and the electricity and water supply with 5.9 per cent. — ONA