Retail

Qatar’s organised retail sector benefits from the country’s high levels of wealth and is currently going through a period of rapid expansion, with gross leasable area nearly doubling in 2017 alone thanks to a strong pipeline of mall openings. In April 2017 two of the largest of these, Mall of Qatar and Doha Festival City, opened their doors. However, the openings come at a time of lower oil and gas prices and regional disruption due to the ongoing economic blockade, imposed in June 2017 by several Arab nations, along with a population that has seen a levelling out in terms of growth. This should generate greater competition for shoppers, potentially giving rise to a clearer demarcation between premium and second-tier facilities in the coming years as more retail area comes on-line.