The Central Administration of Statistics (CAS) released its “Quarterly National Accounts” publication, shedding light on the evolution of Lebanon’s GDP in the fourth quarter of 2019, as well as its breakdown by sector. In details, the report unveiled that Lebanon’s real GDP contracted by 6.7% in 2019. In nominal terms, GDP shed 2.54% to LBP 80.80 trillion (i.e. around $53.60 billion). In details, the construction sector contracted by 29% in real terms, followed by a 15% drop in the business services sector, and some 13% slowdown in the mining, manufacturing and utilities sector, among others. In parallel, the agriculture, livestock, forestry & fishing sector expanded by 6%, with the real estate sector (which is the largest constituent of the country’s GDP) growing by 3%.

More on the sectoral front, the real estate sector emerged for yet another consecutive time as the largest contributor to Lebanon’s economy, accounting for 16.38% of the GDP figure for the year 2019, followed by the commercial trade & transport sector (15.21%), and by the public administration, education & health sector (13.95%) only to name a few, as depicted by the following chart: