In its “Survey of Economic and Social Developments in the Arab Region,” ESCWA reported that the region “has the highest unemployment rate in the world at 12% in 2022. This rate could drop to 11.7% in 2023 thanks to the post-Covid economic recovery efforts.”
The agency added that “poverty, as measured by national poverty lines, has increased to 130 million people in Arab countries, or more than a third of the region’s population outside the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Libya.” Over the next two years, the survey predicts “a further increase in poverty levels to 36% of the population by 2024.”
Ahmed Moummi, lead author of the survey, explained that “while GCC countries and other oil exporters will continue to benefit from rising energy prices, oil-importing countries will suffer from a variety of socio-economic problems, including rising energy costs, food shortages, and declining tourism and international aid inflows.”
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