Today's Edition
KHALED AL KHAWALDEH (ABU DHABI)
The United Arab Emirates enjoys the highest level of wellbeing in the Arab world, according to a landmark new report from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
The "Real Sizes of Arab Economies" report released on Monday found that the UAE had the highest "Actual individual consumption" (AIC) per capita score in the region. AIC measures goods and services consumed by households and is used as an indicator of the material welfare of households.With an AIC per capita of at $32,056, the United Arab Emirates came in 24th place in the world. The next top performer from the region was Kuwait in 37th place.
The rating indicates strong material wealth for the country's residents, which can be foundational to a strong consumer market and broader economy.
International Comparison Programme Regional Manager for the Arab region at ESCWA and author of the report, Majed Skaini, commented: "Although Qatar ranked as the richest Arab country, it came only 3rd in terms of material wellbeing of residents, measured through actual individual consumption per capita (AIC), the highest level of material wellbeing in the Arab region was scored by the UAE."
The report presents purchasing power parities, price level indices, income levels, and total per capita expenditure for the Arab region for the period from 2017 to 2023, and uses statistics from the ICP. It takes a deep dive into 2017 and 2021, years when global ICP data was available, and provides accurate information about the real size of the Arab economy in relation to that of the world economy at that time.
It shows a stark disparity between the largest and smallest economies in the Arab world, with the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt accounting for nearly 60% of the region's total output, despite representing only a third of the population.
The UAE was responsible for 9% of regional output, whilst only comprising a mere 2% of the population.
However, the UAE was the third most expensive country in the region and 27th globally, with a price level index 2% higher than the global average - the most expensive category being health; a result that the report says is expected considering the high income and relative wealth of the country.
Overall, the report found that the Arab economy accounted for 5% of the global economy overall in 2021, with substantial room to grow, considering the large amount of wealth and growing population throughout the region.
