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.
Non-life insurance premium to GDP
Bahrain - 2016
Bahrain - 2016
Return on assets of banks and financial services
Saudi Arabia - 2017
Saudi Arabia - 2017
Insurance company assets to GDP
Tunisia - 2014
Tunisia - 2014
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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.
Population, age group 65+
Palestine - 2018
Palestine - 2018
Urbanization rate, five years
Palestine - 2015
Palestine - 2015
Age dependency ratio
Qatar - 2018
Qatar - 2018
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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.
Pupil-teacher ratio, pre-primary
Mauritania - 2015
Mauritania - 2015
Ministry of education budget, percentage of government budget
Morocco - 2016
Morocco - 2016
Proportion of schools with access to electricity, primary
Bahrain - 2018
Bahrain - 2018
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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.
Proportion of population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technology
Sudan - 2016
Sudan - 2016
Subsidization rate
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.
Compliance with the Basel Convention on hazardous waste and other chemicals
Syria - 2015
Syria - 2015
Mountain Green Cover Index
Libya - 2017
Libya - 2017
Average proportion of Terrestrial Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) covered by protected areas, upper bound
Yemen - 2018
Yemen - 2018
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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
Qatar - 2017
Qatar - 2017
Seats held by women in national parliaments
Syria - 2018
Syria - 2018
Seats held by women in national parliaments
Mauritania - 2018
Mauritania - 2018
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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 people who think that local councillors are involved in corruption
Egypt - 2016
Egypt - 2016
Percentage of people who think that the president/prime minister is involved in corruption
Yemen - 2016
Yemen - 2016
Lack of citizens' satisfaction in hospitals' services during the previous 5 years, due to lack of patients' care by medical staff
Tunisia - 2017
Tunisia - 2017
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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.
Exclusive breastfeeding, percent of children under 6 months
Palestine - 2014
Palestine - 2014
Immunization, measles, percent of children ages 12-23 months
Egypt - 2018
Egypt - 2018
Anemia prevalence, percentage of pregnant women
Qatar - 2016
Qatar - 2016
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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.
Proportion of businesses receiving orders over the Internet, Architectural and engineering activities; technical testing and analysis
Egypt - 2016
Egypt - 2016
Mobile phone penetration rate, percent of population
Oman - 2018
Oman - 2018
Proportion of businesses using the Internet for accessing other financial services, Professional, scientific and technical 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.
Employment distribution by sector, foreign
United Arab Emirates - 2016
United Arab Emirates - 2016
Unemployment distribution by education, 7-9 years of schooling
Palestine - 2017
Palestine - 2017
Employment rate, age group 40-44
Somalia - 2014
Somalia - 2014
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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.
General government net lending/borrowing, percentage of GDP
Lebanon - 2019
Lebanon - 2019
Mineral rents, percent of GDP
Libya - 2017
Libya - 2017
Inflation, percentage change of the GDP deflator
Palestine - 2018
Palestine - 2018
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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.
Poverty gap at national poverty line, urban
Mauritania - 2008
Mauritania - 2008
Household poverty severity, urban
Algeria - 2005
Algeria - 2005
Poverty severity at national poverty line
Yemen - 2016
Yemen - 2016
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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.
Transport services, percentage of commercial service imports
Saudi Arabia - 2018
Saudi Arabia - 2018
Exports, manufactures, percentage of merchandise exports
Lebanon - 2018
Lebanon - 2018
Ores and metals imports, percentage of merchandise imports
United Arab Emirates - 2018
United Arab Emirates - 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.
Proportion of population using improved drinking water sources, rural
Syria - 2007
Syria - 2007
People using at least basic drinking water services, percent of population
Oman - 2017
Oman - 2017
People using at least basic drinking water services, percent of population
Tunisia - 2017
Tunisia - 2017
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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
