RIYADH: The growth of non-oil business activities in Qatar was steady in December, with the country’s purchasing managers’ index remaining stable at 52.9, unchanged from November, an economy tracker showed.
The latest report released by Qatar Financial Center and compiled by S&P Global said that the headline PMI figure for the fourth quarter of 2024 stood at 52.9, up from 52.0 in the previous three months and above the long-run survey average of 52.3 since April 2017.
According to the PMI survey, Qatar’s labor market was a key driver of the country’s overall progress in business conditions in December, with employment and wage increases reaching some of the highest levels on record.
The strong growth in non-energy business activities aligns with the broader economic diversification efforts across Gulf Cooperation Council nations, which continue to reduce reliance on oil revenues.
Earlier this month, S&P Global revealed that Saudi Arabia’s December PMI hit 58.4, driven by a sharp increase in new orders. The Kingdom’s PMI has remained above the neutral 50 mark since September 2020, indicating substantial expansion in the non-oil private sector.
In the UAE and Qatar, the PMI for December stood at 55.4 and 54.1, respectively.
“The headline PMI was unchanged at 52.9 in December, remaining above the long-run trend level of 52.3 and indicating a solid improvement in business conditions in the non-energy sector,” said Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, CEO of QFC Authority.
According to the report, employment and wages have risen more quickly in Qatar’s non-energy business sector than at any other time in survey history, which reflects efforts to raise output, improve services, win new business, and address outstanding workloads.
Even though wage pressures remained strong in December, overall input price inflation eased further from October’s four-year high.
The survey added that Qatari firms continued to hold an optimistic outlook for the next 12 months in December, albeit slightly easing from November.
According to the analysis, Qatar’s Financial Services Future Activity Index rose from 62.1 in November to 68.3 in December, well above the long-run series trend of 63.6.
“The outlook for 2025 is strongly positive, continuing to support a booming labor market. New business growth generated a renewed rise in outstanding work during December, and companies continued to build inventories in expectation of sales growth in the coming months,” added Al-Jaida.
Business confidence in Lebanon rises
In a separate report released by BLOMINVEST Bank, compiled by S&P Global, the PMI of Lebanon hit an eight-month high in December, reaching 48.8, up from 48.1 in November.
The survey revealed that companies recorded their most optimistic assessment of the 12-month outlook in December as the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire buoyed sentiment.
S&P Global added that activity levels across Lebanon’s private sector economy fell in December, although the pace of decline cooled to the softest seen since March.
“The BLOM Lebanon PMI for December 2024 improved for the second month in a row from the 44-month low in October (45.0) to record 48.8, as slower declines in new orders and new export orders resulted in a softer output contraction,” said Helmi Mrad, research analyst at BLOMINVEST Bank.
He added: “It is interesting to note that the surveyed companies were optimistic regarding the 12-month outlook, with the Future Output Index recording an all-time high of 61.8. This optimism is due to the ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel.”
According to the survey, the decline in new export business also cooled sharply in December, with the contraction being the slowest in 10 months. This trend also signaled a marked easing of the contraction in international client demand for Lebanese products.
