Oman’s nominal GDP – gross domestic product at market prices – fell sharply in 2015 with lower oil prices taking the lion’s share of the blame.
Oman’s GDP dropped 14.1 per cent to RO27bn in 2015 compared with RO31.45bn in the previous year, according to the statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). Despite a four per cent increase in oil production, the value of the sultanate’s petroleum activities, or oil GDP, plummeted 38.2 per cent to RO9.16bn in 2015 from RO14.84bn in the previous year.
Average oil production rose four per cent to 981,100 barrels per day in 2015 from 943,500 barrels per day in 2014. The average price at which Oman sold its crude plunged 45 per cent to US$56.5 per barrel from US$103.2 per barrel in 2014.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently revised down its forecast for Oman’s economic growth this year amid a continued rout in the global oil market. IMF expects the sultanate’s real GDP to grow by 1.8 per cent in 2016, a percentage point down from 2.8 per cent it had previously forecast in October last year.
However, despite a sharp decline in oil GDP, Oman’s non-oil GDP grew by 2.3 per cent to RO19.37bn in 2015, mainly supported by robust activity in the construction and services sectors, NCSI data showed.
The services sector, which accounted for nearly 49 per cent of Oman’s total GDP, expanded 3.1 per cent to RO13.21bn from RO12.81bn. Among services activity, wholesale and retail trade fell 2.6 per cent to RO2.03bn, while transport and communication increased by 3.9 per cent to RO1.64bn. Financial intermediation and real-estate services sectors grew by 5.5 per cent and 4.6 per cent, respectively.