The total Arab population rose to 289 million last year, which was
one of the fastest growth rates in the world, according to latest figures.
Last year the combined Arab population grew by nearly 10 million people.
This was disclosed in the joint Arab economic report for 2002, prepared
by the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund, the Arab League, and the Arab
Fund for Economic and Social Development in Kuwait.
Excerpts of the report, published in Al Bayan Arabic language daily
yesterday, showed the population of the Arab League's 22 nations grew by
nearly 3.5 per cent in 2001 over the previous year, when the region had
nearly 279 people.
"Growth in the Arab population is the highest in the world with the
exception of Western Sahara in Africa. Demographic indicators show that
Arab countries suffer from a slowdown in measures to cut fertility rates
coupled with an improvement in life expectancy," it said.
"The demographic structure reveals that the age group 15-65 years is
the largest in the population and ranges between 50 and 73 per cent in
the Arab countries. This has very important implications because
it is the most qualified group for economic activity."
The report gave no breakdown for 2001 but according to 2000 estimates,
Egypt remained the most populous Arab country, with a population of 63.3
million.
Sudan was second with around 31 million at the end of 2000, followed
by Algeria with around 30.7 million and Morocco with nearly 28.7 million.
Bahrain, Qatar and Djibouti had the smallest populations of around 689,000,
562,000 and 680,000, respectively.
The rapid population growth has been blamed for the aggravating unemployment
and illiteracy in most of the Arab countries as it is far outpacing economic
growth.
Unemployment is generally estimated at 19 per cent in the Arab region
while the latest Arab League figures showed the combined illiteracy rate
at 38.8 per cent at the end of 2001.
"The population is growing fast and the work force is growing even faster.
This has blocked efforts to tackle the unemployment has even widened among
the educated groups and newcomers to the labour market," the report said.
The slow economic performance has also depressed the per capita income
in most Arab countries in real terms and experts expect unemployment to
deteriorate in the short-term because of privatisation programmes which
involve massive layoffs.
Economic data showed the combined Arab per capita income increased in
current prices from around $1,800 in 1985 to $2,455 in 2001 as the gross
domestic product surged from nearly $350 billion to $712 billion in the
same period.
But experts believe that per capita income last year
was less than one third of its 1985 level in 1970 prices.