GCC's GDP seen reaching $1.5trn in 2013

The GCC's gross domestic product (GDP) is predicted to reach $1.5trn in 2013, according to a Qatar National Bank (QNB) study. Propelled by the oil and gas sector, the combined GDP figure is based on Brent oil prices averaging around $108 per barrel in 2012-13, said the QNB report, cited by Qatar News Agency. The study forecast that the GCC’s real GDP growth would reach 4.6 percent in 2012-13, outperforming the global GDP growth, which the IMF expects at 3.6 percent. The report said GCC real GDP grew at an annual rate of 4.7 percrnt from 2007-11 compared with a global growth rate of 2.8 percent. QNB said the six nations of the GCC - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain - had a combined nominal GDP of $1.4trn in 2011. The GDP of the GCC has almost quadrupled in nominal terms since 2001, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.2 percent, the study added. "The frenetic economic activity has attracted and continues to attract foreign skilled and unskilled workers to the region resulting in population growth that is almost triple the world rate with about 50 million people expected to be living in the GCC by 2013," it said. "The GCC is likely to have a larger current-account surplus than either Japan or Germany in 2012-13 as high oil prices boost exports," it added. By Arabian Business