Banking and Finance
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The banking and financial markets in the Arab Region are one of the fastest growing worldwide. More than 330 Arab banking and financial institutions operate in the Arab region today, with total banking assets amounting to 140% of GDP, or USD 3.4 trillion, total deposits accounting for more than USD 2.2 trillion and total loans reaching USD 1.9 trillion by the end of 2016.
Account ownership at a financial institution or with a mobile-money-service provider, poorest 40 percent, percent of population ages 15+
Syria - 2011
Syria - 2011
Account ownership at a financial institution or with a mobile-money-service provider, young adults, percent of population ages 15-24
Somalia - 2014
Somalia - 2014
Bank return on assets, after tax
Syria - 2016
Syria - 2016
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Demography
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By 2018, the Arab region was home to 422.7 million inhabitants representing 5.5% of the world’s population and growing by 1.9% in 2018. The three most populous countries in the region are Egypt (99.3 million), Algeria (42 million) and Sudan (41.5 million), while the population in Comoros and Djibouti is less than one million in 2018.
Rural population, percentage of total population
Kuwait - 2017
Kuwait - 2017
Urban population, percentage of total population
Yemen - 2017
Yemen - 2017
Completeness of birth registration, percentage of children under age 5 whose births were registered
Tunisia - 2012
Tunisia - 2012
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Education
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The Arab region has registered a remarkable trend of growing gains in educational attainment and more equitable access to formal education since the beginning of the millennium, with impressive progress towards gender parity across all stages of education. Gross primary enrolment reached 98.9% in 2016, up from 90.5% in 2000 and gross tertiary enrollment increased to 73.5% in 2016 up from 61% in 2000. Adult literacy rate also increased from 65% to 75.3% between 2000 and 2016.
Literacy rate, percentage of males ages 15-24, youth male
Algeria - 2008
Algeria - 2008
Proportion of students in Grade 2 or 3 achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in mathematics, spoke the language of the test at home
Morocco - 2015
Morocco - 2015
Schools with access to electricity, lower secondary
Djibouti - 2017
Djibouti - 2017
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Energy
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The Arab region is one of the world’s richest regions in terms of oil and natural gas resources. According to recent estimates, 42% of the world proven oil reserves and 29% of the world’s proven natural gas reserves are located in the Arab region. Electricity production in the region relies heavily on conventional fuel sources, with a production amounting to 1,050 TWh in 2014, of which only 40 TWh were produced using renewable sources. The electrification rate in 15 Arab countries was above the World average of 85 percent in 2012, with 6 countries reaching 100 percent electrification rate.
Total subsidy, percentage of GDP
Iraq - 2017
Iraq - 2017
Total subsidy, percentage of GDP
Bahrain - 2017
Bahrain - 2017
Subsidization rate
Algeria - 2017
Algeria - 2017
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Environment
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The Arab region comprises one of the largest deserts in the world making up around 18% of the total surface area of the Arab region. The region is characterized by an arid and semi-arid climate. The rapidly growing population and high urbanization rates exert increasing pressures on the available natural resources.
Renewable energy consumption, percent of total final energy consumption
Jordan - 2015
Jordan - 2015
Terrestrial protected areas, percent of total land area
Somalia - 2016
Somalia - 2016
PM2.5 pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO Interim Target-3 value, percent of total
Lebanon - 2016
Lebanon - 2016
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Gender
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By 2017, women made up almost half of the total Arab population and 22.6% of the total labor force in the region. With significant improvements made in health and education over the last 15 years, gender-based disparities continue in the labor markets and the political space remains the most challenging for women.
Female share of employment in managerial positions, total management
Kuwait - 2016
Kuwait - 2016
Firms with female participation in ownership, percent of firms
Algeria - 2007
Algeria - 2007
Firms with female participation in ownership, percent of firms
Lebanon - 2013
Lebanon - 2013
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Governance
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Some Arab countries have made intense efforts to make their economies more open and to improve their level of competitiveness, such as the United Arab Emirates which ranked 17th, the highest in the region, among 137 countries on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) in 2017-18, followed by Qatar, ranking 25th.
Bribery incidence, percentage of firms experiencing at least one bribe payment request
Morocco - 2013
Morocco - 2013
Positive public opinion about the current government’s performance in creating employment opportunities
Algeria - 2016
Algeria - 2016
Bribery depth, percentage of public transactions where a gift or informal payment was requested
Iraq - 2011
Iraq - 2011
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Health
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The Arab region has made a clear progress in a number of health and health-related outcomes. The average life expectancy increased from 58.5 years in 1980 to 71 years in 2015. Under-five mortality has significantly decreased from an average of 81.2 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 38 per 1000 in 2016.
Prevalence of HIV, female, percent ages 15-24
Comoros - 2017
Comoros - 2017
Immunization coverage, Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV)
Saudi Arabia - 2016
Saudi Arabia - 2016
Proportion of the target population with access to measles-containing-vaccine second-dose (MCV2)
Morocco - 2017
Morocco - 2017
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I C T
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Mobile-cellular subscriptions have been substituting fixed-telephone subscriptions in the Arab region. In the former has increased by around 40% between 2010 and 2018 reaching a penetration rate of 103.1% in 2018, whereas fixed-telephone subscriptions have dropped by 7% during the same period reaching a penetration rate of 7.7% in 2018. The percentage of individuals (% of total population) using the internet in the Arab Region has more than doubled in 2018 at 54.7% up from 24% in 2010, with wide variations between the different Arab countries.
Enrolment in programmes offering computer-assisted instruction (CAI), primary
Qatar - 2012
Qatar - 2012
Population covered by a mobile-cellular network
Bahrain - 2014
Bahrain - 2014
Proportion of businesses receiving orders over the Internet, Administrative and support service activities
Qatar - 2015
Qatar - 2015
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Labor and Employment
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The Arab countries share common labor market features and challenges. The labor force participation rate in the region is the lowest worldwide at 48.6 % in 2017, with highest rates observed in the GCC countries. The unemployment rate in the Arab region remains one of the highest in the world registering 10.2% in 2017 compared to 5.7% worldwide. This rate is especially high among youth at 26.7% in 2017.
Unemployment rate by education, intermediate, age group 15+
Palestine - 2018
Palestine - 2018
Vulnerable employment, percentage of total employment
Lebanon - 2018
Lebanon - 2018
Proportion of children engaged in economic activity, age group 5-14, female
Comoros - 2012
Comoros - 2012
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Macroeconomy
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Macroeconomic performance tends to diverge across the Arab countries between major oil and natural gas exporting countries and other countries in the region, such as those plagued by protracted crises. For the Arab region, as a whole, the GDP (Purchasing Power Parity, constant 2011 prices) leveled at Int$ 6,302.6 billion in 2016, constituting 5.6% of the world’s GDP.
Agriculture, gross value added, percentage of GDP
undefined - 2017
undefined - 2017
General government final consumption expenditures, percentage of GDP
Oman - 2017
Oman - 2017
Agriculture, forestry and hunting, gross added value, percentage of GDP
Jordan - 2017
Jordan - 2017
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Poverty
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The Arab region witnessed an improvement in its Human Development Index (HDI), from 0.613 in 2000 to 0.699 in 2017, but it remained below the world average of 0.728. Despite this positive overall trend in human development, poverty remains one of the paramount challenges and major impediments to inclusive development in the region, and that’s why “Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere” was considered a top priority in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Household poverty gap, according to head of household, female
Algeria - 2005
Algeria - 2005
Poverty severity at national poverty line
Djibouti - 2002
Djibouti - 2002
Extreme poverty headcount ratio at national poverty line, according to head of household, male
Comoros - 2014
Comoros - 2014
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Trade
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Arab countries’ total share of world exports has doubled since 2000, reaching 7% in 2014. Fuel exports, representing the vast majority of exports in the oil-producing countries, amounted to 73% of the region’s merchandise in 2015. When excluding fuel, the Arab region’s non-oil exports made up 2% of the world exports in 2013 up from 1% in 2000.
Food imports, percentage of merchandise imports
Tunisia - 2017
Tunisia - 2017
Manufactures exports, percentage of merchandise exports
Oman - 2017
Oman - 2017
Transport services, percentage of commercial service exports
Palestine - 2017
Palestine - 2017
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Water and Food Security
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In most Arab countries, water has become a critical natural resource. Most countries in the region are classified as arid or semiarid or, receiving less than 250 mm of rainfall annually. Renewable water resources per inhabitant reached 736 m3 in 2014, compared to a world average of about 6,000 m3 per inhabitant, placing 13 out of 22 Arab countries in the category of severe water scarcity at less than 500 m3 per capita.
Proportion of population using improved sanitation facilities, excluding shared, sewer connections
Sudan - 2015
Sudan - 2015
Municipal water withdrawal, percentage of total withdrawal
Libya - 2012
Libya - 2012
Agricultural water withdrawal, percentage of total withdrawal
Egypt - 2012
Egypt - 2012
