Muscat – Supported by the post-pandemic economic recovery and improved demand for Omani products in the United States, India and the Gulf region, the sultanate’s non-oil exports jumped by more than 50 per cent in the first nine months of 2022.
Oman’s total non-oil exports jumped by 50.1 per cent to RO5.619bn during January – September period of 2022 compared to RO3.743bn recorded in the same period of 2021, driven by increased demand from key markets in the region and around the world, the data released by National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) showed.
The growth in Omani exports suggests that the sultanate’s economy is well on a strong recovery path. Supported by higher oil prices and government’s economic stimulus measures, Oman’s real GDP grew at a solid pace of 4.5 per cent in the first nine months of 2022.
As Oman’s major trading partners are continuing to record economic recovery after the pandemic slump, the robust growth in Omani exports this year was led by strong demand from the United States, India and the Gulf countries.
Interestingly, the United States last year emerged as Oman’s biggest non-oil export destination, ahead of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia., the NCSI data showed.
The sultanate’s non-oil exports to the US spiked more than 84 per cent in 2022 amounting to RO689.2mn in the first nine months of the year compared to RO374mn for the same period of 2021.
The US and Oman have a free trade agreement (FTA) that lowers trade barriers between the two countries. Since taking effect in 2009, the FTA has been benefiting both countries by boosting bilateral trade and investment.
Non-oil shipments to India also surged by over 81 per cent to RO576.6mn in the first nine months of last year as compared to RO318mn recorded in 2021.
Exports to the UAE, however, decreased by 1.4 per cent to RO582.8mn during the first nine months of 2022 against RO591.2mn in the same period of last year. Oman’s non-oil exports to Saudi Arabia grew by 49.4 per cent to RO616.8mn in the nine months period September 2022.
The sultanate’s non-oil exports to Qatar grew by more than 61 per cent to RO274mn in the first nine months of 2022 against RO170.1mn in the same period a year ago.
Omani non-oil exports to rest other countries also jumped by more than 53 per cent during the first nine months of 2022 to RO2.880bn against RO1.877bn in the same period of 2021.
Positive outlook for 2023
The NCSI data suggests that the strong recovery in non-oil exports is broad-based for almost all of Oman’s major trading partners. The strong trade performance shows that Omani exporters are making good recovery in attracting overseas orders.
Oman’s non-oil exports will continue to post robust performance in 2023 as more production capacity is expected to become available for export in the mining, plastics and chemicals sectors, Fitch Solutions, a leading global provider of economic research, recently said.
Fitch Solutions revised up its 2023 forecast for Oman’s current account surplus from 3.9 per cent of GDP to 5.1 per cent of GDP due to its more bullish outlook for non-oil exports.
‘We expect non-hydrocarbon exports will continue to post robust performance in 2023, which will more than offset the [expected] decline in hydrocarbon exports. We hold a more bullish view on non-hydrocarbon exports in 2023 as we think more production capacity will become available for export in the mining, plastics and chemicals sectors,’ Fitch Solutions said in a research note.
Minerals, plastics and chemicals
As per the NCSI data, Oman’s mineral products export grew more than 175 per cent to RO1.656bn in the first nine months of 2022 from RO601.8mn in the corresponding period of 2021. Shipments for chemical products also surged 32 per cent to RO1.084mn last year in comparison with RO821.9mn in the same period of previous year.
With increased production capacity of Oman’s downstream industries, exports of plastics and rubber grew more than 42 per cent to hit RO886.3mn value in the first nine months of 2022 compared to RO624.3mn in the same period of 2021.
Base metals and their articles accounted for RO1.159bn worth of exports during the nine months period of 2022, an increase of more than 27.8 per cent compared to RO906.7mn recorded in the previous year.
Oman’s re-exports, by contrast, declined 4.5 per cent in the first nine months of 2022 at RO972.6mn compared to RO1.018bn recorded in 2021, according to the NCSI data.
The decline in re-exports was caused mainly due to reduced transshipments of transport equipments and technical instruments, the data showed.
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