Image Credit: Jose L. Barros/Gulf News
In 2019, the Arab world GDP was at $2.817 trillion. Yes. That is the entire Arab world; 22 states. That is almost equal to the GDP of a single country like France, whose GDP in the same year was $2.716 trillion.
Of course, countries like Germany ($3.8 trillion) and Japan ($5 trillion) each registered more than double the Arab world’s GDP. Forget about China and the United States. Their numbers are astronomical compared to the relatively meagre total combined GDP of 22 Arab states. Why is that?
What do these countries have that we don’t? Why do these countries enjoy massive wealth that is spent on generating more wealth to ensure the wellbeing of their people while in many Arab countries the people cannot even get decent basic services?
Fortunately, some Arab countries have been paying attention to the gap and have been trying to increase their national revenues. Some of those countries, like the UAE, have been doing very well on this front. But the painful fact is that many other Arab countries are oblivious to this fact and continue business as usual.
Business as usual
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