Qatar's economy shrank 17.5 per cent year-on-year at current prices in the first quarter, down from a fourth-quarter rise of nearly 8 percent, as oil and gas sector revenues slumped, official data showed on Tuesday.

First-quarter nominal gross domestic product for the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas fell to 70.88 billion riyals ($19.48 billion) from 85.88 billion riyals a year earlier, the Qatar Statistics Authority said in a statement.

On a quarterly basis, GDP fell 8.7 percent in the first quarter from 77.65 billion riyals in the fourth quarter, the data showed.

Like other Gulf Arab countries heavily reliant on hydrocarbon revenues, Qatar's economy surged as crude oil prices rallied to peaks of above $147 a barrel last July, but has slowed dramatically since the price of oil slumped to levels close to $30 a barrel earlier this year amid a global downturn that has battered markets and hit demand.-Reuters