Qatar's revenues drop 42% over Middle East war, ruler says
Qatar revenue fell 42% in the first half of 2026 as the Middle East war hit its gas exports and the Strait of Hormuz closed, the emir told the Shura Council
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Vehicles are seen in a traffic jam in front of government buildings next to skyscrapers in Doha, Qatar.
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Qatar’s revenues fell 42 percent in the first half of 2026 after the Middle East war hit its gas infrastructure and exports, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said on Tuesday.
He told the annual session of the Shura Council advisory body in Doha that the country lost a “significant proportion” of its exports.
Why did Qatar’s revenue fall 42 percent?
The emir blamed the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and direct damage to energy facilities in Ras Laffan Industrial City. Together, he said, they disrupted a significant portion of exports. Iranian strikes badly damaged the Ras Laffan site, and Iran’s blockade of Hormuz, the only route for Qatar’s LNG shipments, has hobbled exports.
Qatar is the world’s second-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after the US. “The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, together with the direct damage inflicted on some energy facilities in Ras Laffan Industrial City, disrupted a significant portion of the country’s exports,” the emir said.
“It is only natural that the crisis would have a negative impact on public finances, as the total revenues declined by 42 percent during the first half of the year,” he added.
Is Qatar’s North Field expansion still going ahead?
A major expansion of North Field, the world’s biggest gas field, is going ahead, the emir said. “Work on the expansion of the North Field Gas project is progressing according to the set plans,” he told the council.
The expansion at North Field, which stretches under the Gulf to Iranian territory, aims to increase Qatar’s total production capacity to 142 million tons per year by 2030. The Golden Pass LNG project, being carried out in the United States in partnership with ExxonMobil, has also “made significant progress”, he said.
How badly has the war hit Qatar’s economy?
Qatar is one of the Gulf countries hit hardest by the war. On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund forecast a 15.6 percent drop in its GDP this year in its latest global report.
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