In 2023, Brunei Darussalam’s economy grew by 1.4 per cent, which was attributed to a continuous increase in the non-oil and gas (O&G) sector by 4.5 per cent, said the Department of Economic Planning and Statistics (JPES) at the Ministry of Finance and Economy in a statement yesterday, adding that, the O&G sector declined by two per cent.
The increase in the non-O&G sector was driven by the improvement in subsectors such as air transport by 75.8 per cent, finance by 37.4 per cent, and construction by 7.5 per cent.
However, the contraction of the oil and gas sector was due to a decline in the production of crude oil, natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
In the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023, gross domestic product (GDP) at constant prices, recorded a positive growth of 6.8 per cent following an increase in the O&G sector by 11.1 per cent and the non-O&G sector by 3.1 per cent. The expansion in the O&G sector was due to a rise in the production of crude oil, natural gas and LNG. The increase in the production of crude oil and natural gas was in line with the production from a new oil and gas field. Meanwhile, the increase in LNG production was due to higher gas supply.
The non-O&G sector continued its positive performance with an improvement in subsectors such as air transport by 29.8 per cent, finance 13.9 per cent, and manufacture of petroleum and chemical products by 11.7 per cent.
The improvement in the air transport subsector was in line with an increase in the number of air passengers and flight frequency. Meanwhile, the growth in the finance subsector corresponded with the increased income of banking and insurance activities. As for the manufacture of petroleum and chemical products subsector, its expansion resulted from increased production of petrochemicals, methanol and urea fertiliser.
In terms of GDP contribution by economic activity in Q4 of 2023, the industry sector contributed 60.8 per cent, followed by the services sector with 38.3 per cent and the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector with 0.9 per cent.
Brunei Darussalam’s GDP at current prices in Q4 2023 was valued at BND5.5 billion compared to BND5.7 billion in Q4 2022. From the total GDP, O&G sector accounted for 47.0 per cent. Meanwhile, the non-O&G sector, which includes downstream activities such as the manufacture of petroleum and chemical products, contributed 53.0 per cent.
By expenditure approach, the increase in GDP growth in Q4 2023 was driven by a rise in the net exports of goods and services by 21.9 per cent, following a decline in the Imports of goods and services.
This was accompanied by an increase in the household final consumption expenditure and government final consumption expenditure by 4.8 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively.
However, the gross capital formation recorded a decrease of 10.4 per cent.
Full reports on the GDP in Q4 2023 and the annual GDP of 2024 are available on JPES’s website at deps.mofe.gov.bn.
