Qatar’s banking sector recorded total assets of QAR 2.06 trillion in May 2025, up 1% since the start of the year, according to data from QNB Financial Services. Month-on-month, assets declined 0.2%.
Loan volumes declined 0.5% in May to QAR 1.37 trillion, mainly due to a 2.8% drop in public sector lending. Year-to-date, loans rose 2.3%, following a 4.6% increase in 2024. Over the past five years, loan growth has averaged 5.4% annually. The loan-to-deposit ratio rose to 133.3% in May, while loan provisions to gross loans remained unchanged at 4%.
Private sector loans rose 2.2% YTD and 0.6% month-on-month. Contractors led the expansion, up 9% YTD and 0.9% month-on-month. Real estate loans grew 2.6% YTD and 1% MoM, while general trade, consumption, and services loans increased 3.4%, 0.8%, and 1.3% YTD respectively.
Public sector loans climbed 3.2% YTD but dropped 2.8% month-on-month. Government institutions’ borrowing rose 2.5% YTD and 0.1% month-on-month, while semi-government entities declined 10.4% YTD but rose 1.4% month-on-month.
Bank deposits stood at QAR 1.03 trillion, down 0.9% in May. The decline was led by a 0.7% fall in public sector deposits and a 1.5% drop in non-resident deposits. Total deposits have grown 0.6% in 2025, compared to 4.1% in 2024, with a five-year average growth of 3.9%.
Public sector deposits represented 35.1% of the total, private sector 46%, and non-residents 18.9%. Public sector deposits increased 1.6% YTD but declined 0.7% month-on-month. Government deposits rose 0.8% both YTD and month-on-month, while government institution deposits grew 3.6% YTD and fell 1.4% month-on-month.
Lending outside Qatar contracted 1.2% YTD, while domestic credit facilities increased 2.5% in the same period.
Over the past five years, Qatar’s banking sector has averaged asset growth of 5.7% annually. Liquid assets remained steady at 30% of total assets in both April and May.
