Late-night, pre-suhoor web-surfing precocity, engenders some curious findings. Back when my family and I traveled to Syria last month, I was reminded of an observation my mother made about the standard of living in Syria comparatively to the states. It turned out that an extended family member, who worked at a bank in Syria, made less monthly than what a housekeeper who comes by my mother’s residence once a week gets paid. I also remembered hearing that Kuwait has the highest GDP in the world. So I wondered, what is “the gulf” of wealth between the Arab world’s richest and poorest nations. See what you can glean from these numbers and figures:
Qatar’s GDP 2009 estimate:
- Per capita $68,871 (some figures have it at $86,008)
Syria’s GDP 2009 estimate
- Per capita $2,579
Interesting conclusions from these findings:
-Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Comoros, Djibouti, Mauritania, and Somalia (with the lowest GDP at a staggering $750) are the only other Arab league countries that fall below the Syrian GDP line.
-War-torn Iraq has a higher GDP and literacy rate than Syria.
-Palestinians are better off economically than Syrians (and they also have a much higher literacy rate)!
Related posts:
- Awkwardness in Arabic Class
- Awkwardness in Arabic Class II
- Awkwardness in Arabic Class III
- Some Tips on Taking a Class on Middle East Politics
- New Year, New Take: Forget Palestine, Reform Egypt, and Completely Change the Face of the “Arab World”
i think that you need to compare adjusted revenue. gdp per capita represent the amount earned by a person in a year. you need to introduce a purchasing power parity.
this will place Iraq behind Syria, while placing Egypt ahead.
And you can see, in the CIA factbok, that the west bank and Gaza are well behind both. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by…
and the Literacy index you used is different from this Adult literracy Index http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by…
Also, how can there be accurate revenue estimate in countries were private sector workers declare to avoid taxes?
Posted by tora | August 21, 2010, 9:59 amTora breaking it down! I appreciate your needed intervention in this fisher price-tote-sized economic analysis. can you make a more clearer distinction between PPP and GDP for us econ 101 folks?
Posted by maythaKF | August 24, 2010, 1:15 am