A rise of 11.2 percent in the overall GDP of the Arab world was reported in 2000, according to a report by the Arab Monetary Fund, OPEC and the Arab Social and Economic Development Fund. The GDP of the Arab world totaled $629.5 billion in 1999 and reached $700.3 billion in 2000. Between 1998 and 1999, the Arab GDP rose by 7.3 percent, according to Al-Bayan daily.
The agricultural sector contributed 11.5 percent of the Arab GDP on average during 2000. The sector employs 35 percent of the labor force in the Arab world. Spending on social sectors, such as health and education, amounted to $34.2 billion in 2000, whereas throughout the nineties, such spending averaged $29 billion per annum.
The report also revealed that the total value of exports from the Arab world grew to $273.2 billion in 2000, up from $209.6 billion the previous year. Arab world’s exports constituted 39 percent of the overall Arab GDP in 2000, up from 33 percent in 1999.
Final consumption was estimated at $491.9 billion in 2000, compared with $480.3 billion in 1999. The reports also maintained that private consumption amongst the wealthy Arab nations constituted 43 percent of total private consumption in the Arab world.
Per capita average income was assessed at $3,779 in the wealthy states, while the poorer ones recorded an average per capita income of $899 in 2000. — (MENA Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
