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.
Central bank assets to GDP
United Arab Emirates - 2016
United Arab Emirates - 2016
Account ownership at a financial institution or with a mobile-money-service provider, female, percent of population ages 15+
Djibouti - 2011
Djibouti - 2011
Gross non-performing financing to total financing for Islamic banks
Sudan - 2017
Sudan - 2017
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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.
Completeness of birth registration, percentage of children under age 5 whose births were registered
Sudan - 2014
Sudan - 2014
Population growth rate
United Arab Emirates - 2019
United Arab Emirates - 2019
Completeness of birth registration, male
Algeria - 2013
Algeria - 2013
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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.
Children under 5 years of age who are developmentally on track in health
Qatar - 2012
Qatar - 2012
Proportion of students in Grade 2 or 3 achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in reading, very poor socioeconomic background
Oman - 2011
Oman - 2011
Pupil-teacher ratio, primary
Yemen - 2016
Yemen - 2016
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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.
Subsidization rate
Saudi Arabia - 2017
Saudi Arabia - 2017
Subsidization rate
Libya - 2017
Libya - 2017
Total subsidy, percentage of GDP
Egypt - 2017
Egypt - 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.
PM2.5 pollution, population exposed to levels exceeding WHO Interim Target-2 value, percent of total
Jordan - 2017
Jordan - 2017
Proportion of transboundary aquifers with an operational arrangement for water cooperation
Morocco - 2017
Morocco - 2017
Proportion of open water bodies with good ambient water quality
Morocco - 2017
Morocco - 2017
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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.
Firms with female top manager, percent of firms
Jordan - 2013
Jordan - 2013
Firms with female top manager, percent of firms
Sudan - 2014
Sudan - 2014
Firms with female participation in ownership, percent of firms
Mauritania - 2014
Mauritania - 2014
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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.
Percentage of firms expected to give gifts to secure government contract
Sudan - 2014
Sudan - 2014
Percentage of people who think that there is corruption in state agencies
Lebanon - 2016
Lebanon - 2016
Percentage of people who think that there is corruption in state agencies
Iraq - 2013
Iraq - 2013
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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.
Smoking prevalence among adults, percent of adults, male
United Arab Emirates - 2016
United Arab Emirates - 2016
Immunization coverage, DPT3, children 0-11 months
Mauritania - 2015
Mauritania - 2015
Proportion of the target population with access to measles-containing-vaccine second-dose (MCV2)
Egypt - 2017
Egypt - 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. 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.
Entry basket, 100MB, percentage of monthly GDP per capita
Egypt - 2017
Egypt - 2017
Proportion of businesses using the Internet by fixed broadband access, Human health and social work activities
Egypt - 2016
Egypt - 2016
Proportion of businesses placing orders over the Internet, enterprises, more than 10 employees
Oman - 2011
Oman - 2011
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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.
Proportion of children engaged in economic activity, age group 5-14
Algeria - 2012
Algeria - 2012
Vulnerable employment, percentage of male employment, male
Yemen - 2018
Yemen - 2018
Unemployment distribution by duration of unemployment, nationals, 1 to 2 months
Jordan - 2018
Jordan - 2018
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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.
Interest payments received, percentage of total revenues
Kuwait - 2007
Kuwait - 2007
Interest payments received, percentage of total revenues
Tunisia - 2012
Tunisia - 2012
Manufacturing, value added, percentage of GDP
Morocco - 2017
Morocco - 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.
Extreme poverty headcount ratio at national poverty line, as a percentage of the population, rural
Mauritania - 2014
Mauritania - 2014
Poverty severity at national poverty line
Mauritania - 2014
Mauritania - 2014
Population vulnerable to multidimensional poverty
Jordan - 2012
Jordan - 2012
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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.
Agricultural raw materials exports, percentage of merchandise exports
Qatar - 2016
Qatar - 2016
Food imports, percentage of merchandise imports
Algeria - 2017
Algeria - 2017
Current account balance, percentage of GDP
Qatar - 2018
Qatar - 2018
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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.
Households supplied by water supply industry
Palestine - 2015
Palestine - 2015
Proportion of population using improved sanitation facilities, excluding shared, sewer connections
Tunisia - 2015
Tunisia - 2015
Proportion of population using improved water supplies, accessible on premises
Kuwait - 2015
Kuwait - 2015
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Youth
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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
United Arab Emirates - 2017
Percentage of volunteers, age group 25-30
United Arab Emirates - 2017
United Arab Emirates - 2017
Percentage of volunteers, age group 20-25
United Arab Emirates - 2017
United Arab Emirates - 2017
