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.
Banks Interest rate spread
Kuwait - 2018
Kuwait - 2018
Account at a financial institution, age group 15+
United Arab Emirates - 2017
United Arab Emirates - 2017
Account ownership at a financial institution or with a mobile-money-service provider, richest 60 percent, percent of population ages 15+
undefined - 2017
undefined - 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.
International migrant stock, percentage of population
Mauritania - 2019
Mauritania - 2019
Rural population growth, five years
Sudan - 2015
Sudan - 2015
Urbanization rate, five years
Yemen - 2015
Yemen - 2015
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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.
Percentage of teachers in pre-university education stages, pre-primary
Egypt - 2019
Egypt - 2019
Proportion of students in Grade 2 or 3 achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in mathematics, did not speak the language of the test at home
Qatar - 2015
Qatar - 2015
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
Algeria - 2007
Algeria - 2007
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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.
Renewable electricity output, percent of total electricity output
United Arab Emirates - 2015
United Arab Emirates - 2015
Access to electricity, percent of population
United Arab Emirates - 2017
United Arab Emirates - 2017
Access to electricity, urban, percent of urban population
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-1 value, percent of total
Somalia - 2017
Somalia - 2017
Proportion of population connected to wastewater treatment
Iraq - 2015
Iraq - 2015
Water body extent, permanent, percentage of total land area
Algeria - 2016
Algeria - 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.
Firms with female top manager, percent of firms
Syria - 2009
Syria - 2009
Firms with female top manager, percent of firms
undefined - 2018
undefined - 2018
Seats held by women in national parliaments
Bahrain - 2018
Bahrain - 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.
Positive public opinion about the current government’s performance in improving basic health services
Palestine - 2016
Palestine - 2016
Percentage of people who think that judges and magistrates are involved in corruption
Egypt - 2016
Egypt - 2016
Positive public opinion about the current government’s performance in addressing educational needs
Bahrain - 2007
Bahrain - 2007
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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.
Measles MCV1 vaccination coverage, percent of one-year-old children
Egypt - 2018
Egypt - 2018
Domestic general government health expenditure as a percentage of general government expenditure
Djibouti - 2017
Djibouti - 2017
Polio Pol3 vaccination coverage, percent of one-year-old children
Saudi Arabia - 2018
Saudi Arabia - 2018
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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 using the Internet, Information and communication
Tunisia - 2015
Tunisia - 2015
Fixed broadband subscriptions
Jordan - 2018
Jordan - 2018
Proportion of businesses using the Internet by mobile broadband access, all enterprises
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.
Annual growth rate of output per worker, estimates
Syria - 2018
Syria - 2018
Employment distribution by education, pre-school
Lebanon - 2004
Lebanon - 2004
Employment distribution, age group 35-39
Lebanon - 2009
Lebanon - 2009
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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 primary net lending/borrowing, percentage of GDP
Libya - 2020
Libya - 2020
GDP annual growth rate, constant prices
Jordan - 2017
Jordan - 2017
GNI per capita growth, annual percent
Qatar - 2017
Qatar - 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.
Population in multidimensional poverty, intensity of deprivation
Algeria - 2013
Algeria - 2013
Poverty gap at national poverty line
Lebanon - 2012
Lebanon - 2012
Income share held by lowest 10%
Morocco - 2013
Morocco - 2013
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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.
Tariff rate, applied, weighted mean, primary products
Libya - 2006
Libya - 2006
Imports, fuel, percentage of merchandise imports
Algeria - 2017
Algeria - 2017
Average tariffs faced by developing countries, least developed countries and small island developing states, effective category
Egypt - 2018
Egypt - 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.
Population supplied by water supply industry
Libya - 2012
Libya - 2012
People using at least basic drinking water services, urban, percent of urban population
Sudan - 2017
Sudan - 2017
Proportion of population using safely managed sanitation services
Egypt - 2017
Egypt - 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 20-25
United Arab Emirates - 2017
United Arab Emirates - 2017
Percentage of volunteers, age group 25-30
United Arab Emirates - 2017
United Arab Emirates - 2017
