RIYADH: The volume of gross domestic product (GDP) of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries grew by 0.3 percent to hit $1.64 trillion (SR6.15 trillion) in 2014, according to a financial report.
Saudi Arabia captured 45 percent of the GCC total GDP at nearly $746.2 billion (SR2.8 trillion), the report, compiled and analyzed by Al-Eqtisadiah daily, said.
Earlier, the assistant secretary general of the GCC Secretariat for Economic Affairs predicted the volume of GCC’s GDP to stand at $1.65 trillion by the end of the current year.
The UAE was the second to have the highest rate of the GDP among the GCC countries at 24 percent ($746.2 billion), followed by Qatar at 13 percent ($208.7 billion), Kuwait at 11 percent ($172.4 billion), Oman at 5 percent ($78.2 billion), and Bahrain at 2 percent ($33.9 billion), the report said.
On the other hand, the volume of trade exchange between the Kingdom and other GCC countries reached $74.7 billion (SR280.1 billion) in 2014, the report said. However, the GCC official expected the inter-GCC trade will jump to nearly $ 146 billion in the current year.
As regards to economic growth, the rate of growth in all GCC countries declined in 2014 with the exception of Saudi Arabia where economic growth jumped from 2.7 percent in 2013 to 3.5 percent in 2014.
In other GCC countries, economic growth rates declined at varying levels in the same period: UAE from 5.2 percent to 3.6 percent, Qatar from 6.3 percent to 6 percent, Oman from 4.8 percent to 3.4 percent, Kuwait from 1.5 percent to 1.3 percent, and Bahrain from 5.3 percent to 4.8 percent, the report said.
However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that the GCC countries’ economies will grow in the current year (2015) where the UAE will register a growth rate of 3 percent, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain 3.4 percent, Oman 4.4 percent, and 4.7 percent and 1.2 percent in Qatar and Kuwait, respectively, the report said.
Regarding inflation rates in the GCC countries, these rates dropped in four countries and increased in the remaining two countries. Saudi Arabia has its inflation rate dropped from 3.5 percent in 2013 to 2.7 percent in 2014. Bahrain and Qatar have their inflation dropped to 2.5 percent (from 3.3 percent), and 2.9 percent (from 3.1 percent), respectively. The rate of inflation in the GCC countries was averaged at 2.4 percent in 2014 compared to 2.5 percent in 2013, the report said.
On the other hand, exports of the GCC countries dropped from $1.12 trillion in 2013 to $1.07 trillion in 2014, or a decrease of 4.2 percent. Likewise, imports of the GCC countries dropped by 1.9 percent in 2014 to $692 billion from $705.6 billion, the report said.
Meanwhile, the current account surpluses in all GCC countries declined where Saudi Arabia has its surpluses dropped to $76.9 billion in 2014 compared to $135.5 billion in 2013. Similarly, current account surpluses dropped in other GCC countries as follows: Kuwait $60.9 billion (from $69.6 billion), the UAE $49.1 billion (from $64.7 billion), Oman $2.2 billion (from $4.7 billion), and Bahrain $2.2 billion (from $2.6 billion), the report said.
SR2.8 trillion: Saudi Arabia contributes 45% of Gulf GDP
