Arab Development Portal

Banking and Finance

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.

Gross non-performing financing to total financing for Islamic banks
United Arab Emirates - 2017

Life insurance premium to GDP
Qatar - 2013

Non-performing loans to total gross loans for banks
Saudi Arabia - 2018

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Demography

International

National

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.

Urban population, percentage of total population
Jordan - 2018

International migrant stock, percentage of population
Oman - 2019

Rural population growth, annual
Comoros - 2018

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Education

International

National

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.

Net enrollment rate, primary, private
Djibouti - 2018

Proportion of children under 5 years of age who are developmentally on track in psychosocial well-being, urban
Oman - 2014

Teachers, preparatory, percentage of female
Egypt - 2018

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Energy

International

National

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
Algeria - 2017

Total subsidy, percentage of GDP
Libya - 2017

Total subsidy, percentage of GDP
Bahrain - 2017

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Environment

International

National

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.

Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources
Djibouti - 2014

Percentage of population with access to safe drinking water
Kuwait - 2016

Forest area as a proportion of total land area
Bahrain - 2016

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Gender

International

National

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.

Seats held by women in national parliaments
Egypt - 2018

Firms with female participation in ownership, percent of firms
Djibouti - 2013

Firms with female participation in ownership, percent of firms
Palestine - 2013

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Governance

International

National

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.

Positive public confidence in the civil service
Kuwait - 2014

Citizens' satisfaction in the municipality services by people living in the municipal milieu, building permits' services
Tunisia - 2017

State efforts to combat corruption are a little effective or ineffective
Tunisia - 2014

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Health

International

National

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.

Physicians, Specialists, private sector
Morocco - 2013

Ministry of health revenues to expenditures
Bahrain - 2014

BCG vaccination coverage, percent of one-year-old children
Egypt - 2017

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I C T

International

National

Mobile-cellular subscriptions have been substituting fixed-telephone subscriptions in the Arab region. 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 radio-assisted instruction (RAI), secondary, male
Palestine - 2012

Proportion of businesses using the Internet for instant messaging, bulletin boards, Manufacturing
Qatar - 2015

Proportion of businesses using the Internet by narrowband access, Accommodation and food service activities
Egypt - 2016

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Labor and Employment

International

National

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 distribution by education, elementary
Oman - 2010

Unemployment rate, age group 60-64
Saudi Arabia - 2017

Employment distribution by economic activity, industry
Algeria - 2018

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Macroeconomy

International

National

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.

Total government revenue as a proportion of GDP, taxes on income, profits and capital gains
Saudi Arabia - 2017

Adjusted net savings, excluding particulate emission damage, percent of GNI
Iraq - 2016

Growth rates of household expenditure or income per capita among the bottom 40 percent of the population
Jordan - 2010

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Poverty

International

National

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.

Extreme poverty severity at national poverty line
Djibouti - 2002

Household poverty severity, urban
Algeria - 2005

Population in severe multidimensional poverty
Comoros - 2012

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Trade

International

National

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.

Imports, fuel, percentage of merchandise imports
Algeria - 2017

Ores and metals imports, percentage of merchandise imports
Yemen - 2015

Imports, expenditures, international tourism, percentage of total imports
Syria - 2010

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Water and Food Security

International

National

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.

Irrigated agricultural land, percentage of agricultural land
Syria - 2013

Municipal water withdrawal, percentage of total withdrawal
Egypt - 2012

Agricultural water withdrawal, percentage of total withdrawal
Djibouti - 2000

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Youth

International

National

Adolescents and youth, 10-24 years old, in the Arab region currently account for nearly third of the total population. The region has experienced remarkable advances in education since year 2000. Secondary gross enrolment increased to 74.2 percent in 2017, up from 61.0 percent in 2000, and gross tertiary enrolment reached 32.4 percent, up from 18.5 percent in 2000. While adolescents and youth in the region were able to improve their levels of education, many economies in the region fail to absorb new entrants to the labor market. Youth unemployment rate in the region is the highest in the world, at 25.7 percent, ranging from 0.6 percent in Qatar to 45.9 percent in Palestine.

Percentage of volunteers, age group 15-19
United Arab Emirates - 2017

Percentage of volunteers, age group 25-30
United Arab Emirates - 2017

Percentage of volunteers, age group 20-25
United Arab Emirates - 2017

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