Oman’s gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of the third quarter of 2017 increased by 10.1 per cent, recording RO20.3 billion ($52.6 billion) from RO18.4 billion in the previous quarter, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

 Oil activities rose by 23.9 per cent to touch RO6.2 billion compared with RO5.042 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2016. The share of crude in oil activities at the end of the third quarter was valued as RO5.2 billion, which is a rise of 27.8 per cent at the end of the third quarter of 2016, when it was at the level of RO4.1 billion.

Natural gas increased by 6.3 per cent to RO983.9 million from RO925 million at the end of the third quarter of 2016. By the end of the third quarter of 2017, total non-oil activities were valued at RO14.7 billion, which is an increase of 4.9 per cent over the value at the end of the third quarter of 2016.

The services activities, which are at the forefront of non-oil activities stood at RO10.3 billion, which is an increase of 5.7 per cent at the end of the third quarter of 2016. The services activities were at the level of RO9.7 billion.

The sub-sectors of services activities recorded a rise in wholesale and retail trade by 10.9 per cent, transport, storage and communications by 7.3 per cent, hotels and restaurants by 1.1 per cent, real estate and rental activities and business projects by 6.5 per cent and financial intermediaries by 2.9 per cent.

Public administration and defence activities fell by 0.4 per cent, while other services increased by 9.8 per cent. The industrial activities recorded a rise of 2.8 per cent at the end of the third quarter of 2017 with a value of RO3.9 billion compared with the end of the third quarter of 2016, which was at RO3.8 billion.

The basic chemicals sector led the increase, recording a growth of 15 per cent from the end of the third quarter of 2016, followed by the manufacturing sector with 11.9 per cent and other manufacturing industries saw a growth of 9.3 per cent. Electricity and water supply increased by 6.6 per cent, mining and quarrying by 1.1 per cent. On the contrary, construction sector fell by 7 per cent.

Agriculture and fishing related activities recorded an increase of 5.4 per cent to reach to RO390 million compared with the end of the third quarter of 2016, when it was at the level of RO370 million. — TradeArabia News Service