Qatar's Emir says government revenue fell 42% in first half of 2026

Qatar's government revenue fell 42% in the first half of 2026, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani told the Shura Council on Tuesday, October 13. The emir said public spending fell 14% over the same six months as he opened the council's annual session in Doha.

ZeroHedge reported that the figure puts an official number on the damage the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have done to Qatar's gas exports. The details below come from that report, which in turn cites TRT World, the state news agency QNA, AGBI and Reuters.

Key numbers

• 42% — fall in government revenue in the first half of 2026, per the emir's speech as reported by ZeroHedge
• 14% — fall in public spending over the same six months, per ZeroHedge
• QR21.2 billion — second-quarter deficit, on QR25.6 billion in revenue against QR46.8 billion in spending, per Finance Ministry data carried by QNA, as cited by ZeroHedge
• QR10.3 billion — first-quarter gap, per the same QNA-carried data, as cited by ZeroHedge
• 57% — fall in second-quarter revenue compared with a year earlier, when the deficit was QR800 million, per AGBI, as cited by ZeroHedge
• QR21.8 billion — shortfall projected for all of 2026, per ZeroHedge

According to ZeroHedge, citing TRT World, the emir said: "It is only natural that the crisis would have a negative impact on public finances." ZeroHedge reported that he stressed the government will not cut essential services or alter its development goals.

The emir credited the financial cushion Qatar built before the war, ZeroHedge reported. He cited larger reserves, lower public debt and conservative oil-price assumptions. He also pointed to roughly QR221 billion ($60.7 billion) in projects and investments planned over the next five years, according to ZeroHedge.

ZeroHedge said the 2026 budget, drawn up in December, had assumed oil at $55 a barrel, total revenue of QR199 billion and spending of QR220.8 billion.

ZeroHedge linked the revenue fall to damage to energy infrastructure. It reported that an Iranian drone strike in early March forced the Ras Laffan gas complex to shut down. State-owned QatarEnergy then halted LNG production and declared force majeure on its contracts with buyers, ZeroHedge said.

ZeroHedge, citing Reuters, reported that later Iranian missile strikes knocked out two of Qatar's 14 gas-processing units, or 12.8 million tons of annual output, which it put at 17% of export capacity. Reuters reported that QatarEnergy warned the units would take three to five years to repair. ZeroHedge also reported that Qatar exported 1.6 million tons of LNG in September, less than a quarter of its pre-war average.