The MDPS released a number of interesting data which monitor the economic and social development of Qatar in January. Data are available on the ministry’s website: www.mdps.gov.qa   On the occasion of Qatar’s National Sport Day which is taking place on February 11, the MDPS launched on its website an electronic survey to identify the nationals and residents’ opinions on the sporting activities practiced by the community. The survey results will be released in detail during the National Sport Day celebrations.   The survey, launched in the same time of each year, aims to identify the number of participants in the sporting activities by age groups, individual’s spending on sport, and places and times preferred for physical activity as well as the size of participation in the sport day during the previous two years.   The MDPS announced in January the survey results which was carried out in collaboration with Qatar Football Association and Sport Statistics Technical Committee in Qatar, seeking to identify the reasons behind audience reluctance to attend football matches at stadiums.  The survey includes 1079 persons (Qataris and residents), 65% of total Qataris who participated in the survey, did not attend any match at stadiums during the previous football season.   The survey results show that 67% of respondents think that time shortage is the main personal reason hindering their attendance, followed by lack of desire (51%). In parallel, 45% of females mention that the stadiums are not well adapted for them. 55% and 61% respectively of respondents point out that the family objection, traditions and customs are not important reasons for them to turn away from attending matches at stadiums.  On the occasion of the National Sport Day, the MDPS football team participated in Aspire mini-Football Tournament in January which is organized under the auspices of HE Mr. Salah bin Ghanem Al-Ali, Minister of Youth and Sport. 48 teams representing numerous governmental and private institutions and ministries participated in the tournament.  As for the economic field, the ministry issued last month the Producer Price Index (PPI) on the Industrial sector of October 2013. It includes mining, electric power, water, manufacturing industry etc. the aforesaid index shows the changes occurred between October and September of 2013.   The October PPI reached 170.9, a decrease of 0.3% compared to September of the same year (2013). Mining declined 0.4% due to the slump in prices of crude oil and natural gas at the same rate.   The manufacturing industry rose by 0.3% owing to the increase of basic chemicals by 2.5%. The PPI plummeted down especially in iron and steel by 1%, followed by grain mill products, beverages and refined petroleum products by 0.3%, and at last, cement, glass and glass products by 0.1%.   At the beginning of this year, the ministry released its preliminary report of November 2013 on the foreign trade statistics (exports & imports). The exports include both goods of national origin and re-exports.   The report shows that the trade balance of goods attained a surplus of QR 30.9 billion in November 2013, a decrease of QR 1.3 billion (4.2%) compared to the same month of 2012.  The ministry released in mid-January the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of December 2013 which remained unchanged at 115.5 compared to November 2013. However, the annual rate of change accounted for 2.7% compared to December 2012.   The General Index remained unchanged, whereas there was a rise of 0.2% in the following groups: “food, beverages and tobacco”, “garment & footwear” and “rentals, fuel and energy”. On the contrary, “miscellaneous goods & services” showed a 0.8% decline, and “transport & communications” fell by 0.2%.   Compared to December of 2012, it is noted that the General Index rose by 2.7%. The “entertainment, recreation & culture” also increased by 5.2%, followed by “rentals, fuel & energy” by 4.8% due to the rise in housing rents, and “furniture, textiles & home appliances” by 4% and “food, beverages & tobacco” by 3.1%. However, prices of “miscellaneous goods & services” showed a slump of 5.4%.