2018 World’s Richest Arab League Countries

Arab countries are home to the largest deposits of natural gas and oil. Due to the large deposits and the ever-increasing global demand of the two resources, some of the countries are proud of some of the leading GDPs on the globe. Moreover, some of these countries are among the least populated in the world, which means that they have the highest GDP per capita.
The Arab countries are based in the Horn of Africa, Arabia and in and around North Africa. Apart from oil and natural gas, the telecommunications industry is also flourishing. One of the economic achievements of the countries in the construction of the Arab Gas Pipeline.
Even though countries like UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait have thriving economies based on oil, some like Yemen have a long way to go before they can be economically stable. Egypt, UAE, Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia lead in tourism and the fertile lands of Southern Sudan are known as the “food basket of the Arab World.” Here are the rich and poor Arab countries.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has been ahead of most Middle East countries mainly because a large percentage of the wealth and land of the Arabian Peninsula is within its borders. Moreover, millions of Muslims from all parts of the world take part in the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which is believed to be the cradle of Islam and birthplace of Prophet Mohammed.

After realizing that change is essential for economic growth, Saudi Arabia started massive and unprecedented reforms. The government recognized the need for investing more to improve the lives of the underprivileged people. Saudi Arabia reports the lowest poverty rate in Arab countries and the tenth most economical in the World – it stands at 12.7 percent. The country is highly urbanized with around 85 percent of the population living in cities and the impoverished people – approximately four million – live in slums on the cities’ outskirts.

credit: Wikipedia
The Saudis who do not live within the slams struggle to afford to house, and around 60 percent of them cannot afford to buy their properties. The government implemented insurance programs for unemployed people, but it is still hard for the recipients to survive because the cost of living is always increasing.

The discovery of oil deposits in 1938 made the country the largest oil exporter in the modern world. It is considered to have the second largest deposits of oil in the world. The gas deposits of the country are the sixth largest in the world. Tourism is another important aspect of the economy. The pilgrims of Medina and Mecca bring millions of people to the country. The GDP per capita stands at $24900.
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