In the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, at constant prices, Brunei Darussalam’s economy recorded a positive growth of gross domestic product (GDP) at 6.8 per cent, said the Department of Economic Planning and Statistics in a press statement released yesterday.
This growth was driven by an 8.9-per-cent increase in the oil and gas sector and a five-per-cent increase in the non-oil and gas sector. The expansion in the oil and gas sector was driven by increased production of crude oil, natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
This growth was aligned with the output from the newly discovered oil field.
The non-oil and gas sector continued its positive performance with improvements in subsectors such as manufacture of petroleum and chemical products by 26.8 per cent, communication by 17.2 per cent and wholesale and retail trade by 9.3 per cent. The expansion in the manufacture of petroleum and chemical products subsector stemmed primarily from increased production of petrochemicals and urea fertiliser.
Meanwhile, the improvement in the communication subsector was in line with the rise in the number of mobile users and Internet subscribers.
This was followed by the wholesale and retail trade subsector, benefited from a rise in domestic demand. In terms of GDP contribution by economic activity, the industry sector contributed 59.5 per cent, followed by the services sector at 39.3 per cent and the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector at 1.2 per cent.
Brunei’s GDP at current prices in Q1 2024 was valued at BND5 billion compared to BND4.9 billion in Q1 2023.
The non-oil and gas sector contributed 53.1 per cent, including downstream activities such as the manufacture of petroleum and chemical products. The oil and gas sector accounted for 46.9 per cent, comprising of oil and gas mining and manufacture of LNG.
By expenditure approach, the increase in GDP growth in Q1 2024 was driven by a rise in the net exports of goods and services by 9.7 per cent, gross capital formation by 9.1 per cent and followed by household final consumption expenditure by 7.5 per cent. However, the government final consumption expenditure recorded a decrease of 5.1 per cent.
GDP is a measure of the total value of goods and services produced in a particular period after deducting the cost of goods and services used up in the process of production.
The full report for is available from the DEPS website.
