RIYADH: Qatar’s real estate sector is witnessing increased business activities with the volume of total sale contracts signed during the last week of July reaching 175.52 million Qatari riyals ($48 million), the latest data from the Real Estate Registration Department at the Ministry of Justice showed. According to the weekly bulletin issued by the department for the period from July 23 to July 27, Qatar’s sale deals included vacant lands, residences, residential buildings, and a commercial-residential building, indicating increased activities across all the segments. This comes after Qatar’s real estate sector recorded 418.731 million riyals worth of real estate contracts for the week ending July 20. The majority of sales activities took place in the cities of Al-Rayyan, Doha, Al-Khor, Al-Thakhira, Al-Daayen, Al-Wakra, Umm Salal, and Al Shamal, added the report. Following the FIFA World Cup last year, the Gulf nation is seeing increased business activities, with the real estate sector reaping the benefits of it as the government invested over $300 billion to transform the country’s infrastructure to host the mega event, according to Knight Frank report titled Destination Qatar. It noted that the country’s residential sector benefited the most from the World Cup, with 850,000 new jobs created between 2010 and 2022. Citing data from Oxford Economics, Knight Frank report said Qatar’s population swell by 60 percent to an estimated 2.75 million at the end of 2022 due to an influx of expatriate workers “This boom in the number of residents has placed upward pressure on rents, with some districts in Doha registering rent rises of 25-30 percent in the last 12 months,” it said. It added that the prime residential leasing market for apartments grew by 22 percent during 2022 to an average of about 12,300 riyals. Qatar and other Gulf countries are seeing significant growth in non-oil activities as the region diversifies its economy away from oil. In May, Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said his country’s non-oil sector grew by 9.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, and oil activities also saw a 4.8 percent rise. Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum, Al-Thani stated that the efforts of the gas-rich Gulf state have led to the development of robust financial institutions and the establishment of a work environment that stimulates business growth. These initiatives have resulted in a considerable increase in both domestic and foreign investments.