Qatar Economic Outlook Issue Number 13

Figure 1-8:
 
Daily and Monthly Baltic Index 
of 2021 (points) 
5,650 
2,454 
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
5000
5500
6000
01
03
05
07
09
0
4
0
6
0
8
1
2
1
4
1
8
2
0
2
2
2
6
2
8
0
1
0
3
0
5
0
9
1
1
1
5
1
7
Months
Days - October
Days - November
Source: Refinitiv Eikon, prepared by PSA

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Qatar Economic Outlook 2021 - 2023 
34 
pandemic, will be affected to a greater extent 
than the markets of developed countries. 
According to the expectations of the World 
Bank in its October 2021 issue, the prices of 
non-energy commodities using dollar prices 
for the year 2010 will rise by 28.9% in 2021, 
then decline by negative 3.9% in 2022, and 
then decline during 2023 and 2024 by 5.3% 
and 3.6%, respectively, before witnessing a 
modest decline of 1.2% in 2025, as Figure )1-
9) indicates. 
Impact of Global Inflation on Qatar 
From the foregoing, it is clear that despite the 
similarity of the measures taken globally to 
confront Covid-19, whether they are 
administrative or economic measures, their 
implementation differs from one country to 
another to reflect the different structures of 
foreign trade and the economy in general. 
Thus, its effect on economic indicators, 
including inflation, may vary worldwide.
In light of the high degree of openness of the 
Qatari economy to foreign economies, which 
averages more than 90% using the total 
foreign trade (exports + imports) as a 
percentage of GDP. Therefore, there is a 
high possibility that external factors such as 
local factors have affected the level of 
inflation in Qatar during (October 2020-
October 2021), as shown in Figure (1-10), by 
making a comparison between the household 
consumer price index (CPI) and the unit 
value index of imports. 
The external factors that may contribute to 
increase the costs of Qatari imports are: (1)
the changes in prices of imported goods and 
services, and (2) the changes of 
transportation, shipping and unloading’s 
costs, (3) the changes in the exchange rate 
of the Qatari riyal against the currencies of 
Qatar’s trading partners. 
While the change in the prices of imported 
goods and services can be tracked by 
following the press releases of trade partners’ 
s statistical agencies, it is very important to 
monitor the risk of increasing the costs of 
transporting and shipping imported goods. 
Therefore, it requires continuous studies and 
taking all necessary measures to mitigate the 
damages of high costs possible through the 
so-called economy of scale, meaning 
coordination between the concerned 
authorities and the private sector in how to 
use large transport fleets to import the largest 
quantity of goods from one or close 
geographical location.