Economic and Social Outlook of Qatar

Saadi, Soroosh; Ghalandari, Yaghoub

Economic and Social Outlook of Qatar

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

soroosh saadi ¹
yaghoub ghalandari ²

¹ . M.Sc. in Political Sciences, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

² PhD in Political Sciences, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran (corresponding author)

Abstract

Qatar, a small country on the Persian Gulf, has leveraged its oil and gas revenues over the past decades to achieve development and position itself as one of the major emerging economies globally. This development trajectory was disrupted in recent years by events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and conflicts with Saudi Arabia. However, with the restoration of relations with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, Qatar is now pursuing its economic and social development path more robustly than before. This study aims to analyze Qatar's economic and social status post-2019 using qualitative research methods and information gathered from up-to-date online sources to answer its central question: "What trajectory will Qatar's future economic and political developments follow?" Based on the findings, Qatar is expected to increase its revenues in the coming years through plans to expand the North Gas Field (South Pars) and boost liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales, enabling more extensive investments in its non-oil sectors. On the social front, migration to Qatar is projected to remain high and stable, prompting the government to maintain its policies on censorship and monitoring of social issues. In some areas, such as user-generated content on social media, oversight is expected to increase.

Keywords