[Oman-L] Oman's GDP falls over 25% in first half of 2009

[Joachim Duester]

Oman's GDP falls over 25% to 8.19b rials in 2009 H1    
Source: Oman Tribune, 17 October 2009


The Ministry of National Economy said on Friday that the Sultanate’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first six months of 2009 fell by 25.2 per cent to 8.19 billion rials, compared to 10.95 billion rials in the same period in 2008.

The report pointed that the fall in oil activities as a main reason to the plunge in GDP. The Sultanate’s crude oil and natural gas trade declined by 45 per cent to 2888.3 million rials in the first half of 2009, against 5247.9 million rials in the same period in 2008.

The crude GDP fell by 47.4 per cent to 2563.6 million rials in first six months of 2009, compared to 4874.7 million rials in the same period in 2008.

The statistics also said that the gas GDP fell by 13 per cent to 324.7 million rials in the first six months of 2009, compared to 373.1 million rials during the same period in 2008.

The non-oil activities also declined in June pulling the Sultanate’s total GDP further down. The non-oil activities fell by 5.9 per cent to 5503.8 million rials in the first half of 2009, compared to 5846.5 million rials in 2008.

The industrial activities in Oman declined by 18.3 per cent to 1467.6 million rials against 1796.8 million rials in 2008.

A weak production report from the Sultanate’s agricultural production also added to the GDP fall. Agriculture output fell by 3.3 per cent to 115.9 million rials during the first six month in 2009, compared to the 116.9 million rials in the same period in 2008.

The service sector also reported a fall of 0.3 per cent to 3920.3 million rials the first half of 2009, compared to 3932.7 million rials in the same period in 2008.