Unemployment among Arab countries remains the highest in the world
Arab countries need to create nearly 40 million jobs by 2020 to tackle unemployment that has remained the highest in the world despite a steady expansion in the private sector, according to an official study.
Although it was cut from around 14.3 per cent in 1990 to about 13.7 per cent in 2008, the unemployment rate in the region is still the highest in the world and requires intensification of reforms to spur economic growth and ensure jobs for unemployed citizens, mostly the youth, said the study by the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund, a key Arab League establishment.
Given their massive oil wealth, the UAE and other Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states have maintained the lowest jobless rate in the region but unemployment has largely deteriorated in such low income nations as Mauritania, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Palestine.
“As a group, the Arab countries are suffering from the highest unemployment rates in the world despite a slight improvement in the past years… the Arab joblessness rate is estimated at 13.7 per cent compared to an international average of nearly 5.7 per cent,” the study said.
“The improvement over the past years has been mainly a result of greater participation by the private sector… but the region now faces a serious challenge in matching the rapid growth in the population and labour force and how to ensure jobs for those who are about to join the labour market, mainly the youth, who account for nearly 50 per cent of the total jobless Arabs… if the Arab countries want to face that challenge and reduce unemployment by half, they will have to create nearly 40 million jobs by 2020”.
Emirates Business
