Oman's industrial sector grows 2.6pc in Q1
MUSCAT, August 30, 2018
Oman's industrial activities recorded a value of RO1.215 billion ($3.16 billion) at the end of the first quarter of 2018, an increase of 2.6 per cent over the RO1.185 billion recorded by the end of the first quarter of 2017, official data showed.
The manufacturing sector led that rise, recording 17.8 per cent growth, followed by mining and quarrying sector with 15 per cent, said an Oman News Agency report said citing statistics released by the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Oman's gross domestic product (GDP) rose 6.5 per cent to reach RO7.034 billion ($18.27 billion) at the end of the first quarter of 2018, compared to RO6.605 billion ($17.16 billion) in the same period of 2017.
Oil activities led to a growth of 16.5 per cent, recording RO2.336 billion, compared to RO2.006 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2017, an Oman News Agency report said citing statistics released by the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The share of crude oil from oil activities as at the end of the first quarter amounted to RO1.713 billion, an increase of 1.1 per cent from the end of the first quarter of 2017, in which crude oil recorded RO1.695 billion.
Natural gas share increased by 100.6 per cent to RO623.2 million, up from RO310.8 million by the end of the first quarter of 2017.
At the end of the first quarter of 2018, total non-oil activities amounted to RO4.929 billion, an increase of 2 per cent over the end of the first quarter of 2017.
Services activities were at the forefront of non-oil activities and amounted to RO3.534 billion, a growth of 1.5 per cent over the end of the first quarter of 2017, in which service activities recorded of RO3,480 billion.
The sub-sectors of service activities recorded an increase in transport, storage and communications by 6.9 per cent, hotels and restaurants by 7.2 per cent, real estate, leasing and business activities by 6.5 per cent, financial intermediaries by 7.3 per cent and wholesale and retail by 6.5 per cent.
Public administration and defence activities fell by 4.9 per cent and other services dropped by 2.9 per cent.
Basic chemical industry activities increased by 13.8 per cent, other manufacturing industries by 22.1 per cent, electricity and water supply by 0.7 per cent.
However, construction activities fell by 12.6 per cent. The activities related to agriculture and fisheries increased by 7.6 per cent to reach RO179.2 million.
