In 2023, the total population of Egypt amounted to ***** million inhabitants, making it the most-populous country in the Middle East-North Africa region.

This statistic looks at the population of children aged between 0 and 5 years of age who live in select Middle Eastern countries in 2012. The statistic shows that Iran has one of the highest child populations with Bahrain having one of the least with 98,300.

This statistic shows the 10 countries in Middle East-North Africa with the largest number of Christians in 2010. 4.29 million Christians lived in Egypt.

As of 2023, the United Arab Emirates led the Middle East region with international tourism receipts worth nearly ** billion U.S. dollars. The entire Middle East region's international tourism receipts were valued at over ***** billion U.S. dollars. UAE tourism   The average daily fee of hotels in the emirate of Dubai in 2020 was *** U.S. dollars, while that in Abu Dhabi was ** U.S. dollars. Dubai is the emirate with the highest number of international visitors in the country. It is well-known for its high-end shopping, vibrant nightlife, and modern architecture. It is home to numerous world-class man-made attractions, including the Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Fountain, Atlantis City, and the Palm resort. The UAE was classified as the most competitive tourist destination in the MENA area in 2018 by the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI). After adjusting for the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism sector's gross domestic product share in the UAE was predicted to be about **** percent by 2025 with more than ** million tourists expected to visit the country. UAE economy The UAE's economy saw a severe drop in real GDP growth in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, although it was projected to recover gradually over the next few years. The country has taken a significant hit as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This is attributable not just to the impact of low oil prices, but also to significant losses in non-oil economic areas such as tourism. The wholesale and retail business will be the greatest contributor to Dubai's GDP in 2021. The central bank predicted that the economy will fully recover in 2022. Greenfield projects accounted for the biggest share of announced foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the emirate of Dubai in 2020.

This statistic shows gross domestic product (GDP) of the MENA countries in 2024. The MENA region in North Africa and the Middle East comprises the countries Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. In 2024, the GDP of Saudi Arabia amounted to approximately 1.085 trillion U.S. dollars.

This statistic gives information on the traffic to leading website categories in selected countries in the Middle East in 2015, by country. During the survey period, news and politics related websites had a traffic share of 57 percent in the United Arab Emirates.

As of February 2025, China ranked first among the countries with the most internet users worldwide. The world's most populated country had 1.11 billion internet users, more than triple the third-ranked United States, with just around 322 million internet users. Overall, all BRIC markets had over two billion internet users, accounting for four of the ten countries with more than 100 million internet users. Worldwide internet usage As of October 2024, there were more than five billion internet users worldwide. There are, however, stark differences in user distribution according to region. Eastern Asia is home to 1.34 billion internet users, while African and Middle Eastern regions had lower user figures. Moreover, the urban areas showed a higher percentage of internet access than rural areas. Internet use in China China ranks first in the list of countries with the most internet users. Due to its ongoing and fast-paced economic development and a cultural inclination towards technology, more than a billion of the estimated 1.4 billion population in China are online. As of the third quarter of 2023, around 87 percent of Chinese internet users stated using WeChat, the most popular social network in the country. On average, Chinese internet users spent five hours and 33 minutes online daily.

The countries in the Middle East are renowned for their vast oil reserves in the global market. While the largest importer of oil and petroleum is the United States, the leading producer of oil in the Middle East is Saudi Arabia with over 12 million barrels of oil produced per day as of 2018.

“Global oil reserves and trade”   Besides Saudi Arabia, the United States imports petroleum from various countries around the world among which Canada is the largest exporter of petroleum having exported around 4.3 billion barrels of petroleum to the United States in 2018. Back in 2015, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates held the second and third largest oil reserves in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Oil market of Saudi Arabia   As of 2018, over 10 million barrels of crude oil were produced in Saudi Arabia of which 3 million barrels were consumed, on a daily basis. This crude oil is further refined to produce products such as diesel, fuel oil, gasoline, LPG, kerosene etc. by refineries like Saudi Aramco. Of these, the highest production was of diesel equaling 319 thousand barrels in 2017.

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were expected to have the highest GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council in 2022 at an *** and *** percent increase, respectively. Outside the GCC, Iraq and Israel were expected to see the biggest increase in GDP at *** and *** percent, respectively. Apart from Jordan and Yemen, all other countries in the Middle East region were forecast to see a significant drop in GDP growth in 2023 over 2022. GDP contributors Travel and tourism were a key contributor to GDP in the region and it was forecast to see a significant increase in the coming years. Additionally, in three of the six GCC countries, oil and gas production amounted to at least ** percent of GDP contribution. The United Arab Emirates ranked fourth worldwide with a ** percent contribution to GDP coming from oil and gas production. Despite this, the distribution of GDP contribution in the UAE comes from many different sectors and industries, leading to one of the more diversified economies in the region. Diversification and self-sufficiency Countries in the region have been striving for more economic diversity to help future-proof their economies. For example, in 2016 Saudi Arabia launched Vision 2030, a program to introduce new and varied revenue streams in the country, create jobs, and attract foreign investment. Furthermore, food self-sufficiency in the GCC has become a priority, with countries pushing to produce more of their food needs locally.

As of 2023, China was the leading trading partner for the majority of Middle Eastern and North African countries in terms of imports and export. However, China only ranked fourth in terms of imports for Qatar and 17th in exports for Turkey and Bahrain.

Between 2019 and 2022, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons population increased in Sudan by over 1.2 million, the largest increase within the Middle East and North Africa. During the same period, of refugees and IDPs population decreased by over 3 thousand in Iraq.

In the Middle Ages, it is believed the largest Jewish populations in the world were found in Asia, particularly across the Middle East. Of the estimated total Jewish population of 1.2 million people, over 80 percent are thought to have lived in Asia, while 13 percent lived in Europe, and the remaining six precent lived in (North) Africa. The largest populations were found on the Arabian peninsula, as well as Iran and Iraq, while the Near East (here referring to the Levant region) had a much smaller population, despite being the spiritual homeland of the Jewish people.

These figures are based on the records of Benjamin of Tudela, a Jewish traveller from the Middle Ages who provided one of the most comprehensive collections of population statistics from the period. Benjamin's writings not only recorded the number of Jews living across this part of the world, but also gave an insight into societal structures and the ordinary daily lives within Jewish communities in the medieval period. The source providing these figures, however, has adjusted some of the statistics to account for known populations that were missing from Benjamin of Tudela's records, especially in Europe and Asia.

The highest overall food security performance within the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) in 2022 was **** percent in the United Arab Emirates. In comparison, the lowest score was of Syria at **** percent in that year. MENA food security breakdown The overall food security performance score is based on four assessment pillars, food availability, affordability, quality and safety, and natural resource and resilience scores. In 2019, Qatar had the best food affordability score exceeding ** percent, followed by the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, the food quality and safety score was highest for Qatar, followed by Israel. The highest food availability score was in Israel, followed by Egypt, and the lowest for Yemen at a score of ** percent. Turkey had the highest natural resource and resilience score for food at ** percent in that year. Within the MENA region, food insecurity was found to be positively correlated with the amount of conflict in a country, and the level of rural transformation. Rural transformation includes the maturing of services such as those in the health and education sectors. The development of such sectors improves the standards of living, employment opportunities, and the overall welfare of households which enhances food security. GCC food industry trends The consistent growth in the demand for food in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries is caused by the increasing per capita income, persistent population growth, and thriving tourism. There was a noticeable shift in consumer behavior to healthier food choices in recent years due to the increasing health issues caused by the high obesity rates in the region. Saudi Arabia is the largest consumer and producer of food within the Gulf region. The most desired food type in the GCC region in 2016 was cereal, which was the food type with the lowest food sufficiency ratio.

This statistic shows Iran's total population from 2020 to 2022, with projections up until 2030. In 2022, the total population of Iran amounted to approximately 84.9 million inhabitants. The population of Iran Iran is the second largest nation in the Middle East and one of the founding members of the United Nations, NAM, OIC and OPEC. With a rapidly growing total population of just under 78 million inhabitants, it is the world’s seventeenth most populous nation. Iran’s total population has grown by 10 million inhabitants over the past decade. In 2010, Iran’s population grew by around 1.6 percent in comparison to the previous year, which is partially due to due the high fertility rate. In 2010, the fertility rate of Iran was at almost 2 percent. Surprisingly, Iran does not have a high life expectancy. In 2010, the life expectancy in Iran was just 73 years. Looking at the age structure of Iran's population shows that the vast majority, more than 71 percent of Iran inhabitants, were aged between 15 and 64 the same year, while only around 5.2 percent of the population in Iran were aged over 65. Therefore, it is assumed that the growing total population is due to an increase in the young population in Iran and immigrants. People migrating from surrounding countries, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, have increased Iran’s total population drastically.

As of 2018, the proven oil reserves for Saudi Arabia was 266.2 billion barrels. The world's largest oil reserves can be found in the Middle East region. Saudi Arabia has the second largest world reserves right behind Venezuela.

Among the top seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in terms of active military personnel, Iran, which topped the list, was the only non-Arab nation. Saudi Arabia had the fourth-largest number of active military personnel and was the only Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country to make the top ten. All other GCC countries were in the bottom eight, with Kuwait having the second-highest number of active personnel in the council at 72,000 servicemen. Among African countries, Egypt and Algeria topped the list, with 450 and 325 thousand active personnel, respectively. Military strength Due to their small native populations, many countries in the GCC often rely on foreign nationals to fill in force roles in the military. Equipment is often directly correlated to the number of personnel in service. When looking at the number of tanks among armies in the MENA region, there is a clear correspondence with the level of active personnel each army has. Likewise, another key indicator of military strength is the number of military aircraft MENA countries have in operation. Israel is one of the few countries in the region that has a thriving defense export industry due to investments in R&D and local manufacturing. Increased defense spending In recent years, military spending among MENA countries has increased, with GCC countries prioritizing defense and furthering cooperation with foreign manufacturers. Qatar, which has one of the highest military spending in the region, has sought to enhance strategic partnerships with mainly Western allies after neighboring countries imposed a three-year land, sea, and air blockade on the small country in 2017. Most militaries seek to ensure as much uniformity as possible when procuring military equipment to keep costs down, facilitate more efficient training, and ensure cross-platform compatibility with existing systems. However, as of 2024, Qatar placed orders for high-end equipment, particularly fighter jets, from France, the United Kingdom, and the United States simultaneously, thereby linking their defense to the potential loss of billions in equipment orders and foreign jobs.

In 2022, Saudi Arabia was expected to be the largest ecommerce market in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with a market size of 13 billion U.S. dollars. Turkey was expected to come second with a market size forecast of 12.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2022.

In the middle of 2023, about 60 percent of the global population was living in Asia.The total world population amounted to 8.1 billion people on the planet. In other words 4.7 billion people were living in Asia as of 2023. Global populationDue to medical advances, better living conditions and the increase of agricultural productivity, the world population increased rapidly over the past century, and is expected to continue to grow. After reaching eight billion in 2023, the global population is estimated to pass 10 billion by 2060. Africa expected to drive population increase Most of the future population increase is expected to happen in Africa. The countries with the highest population growth rate in 2024 were mostly African countries. While around 1.47 billion people live on the continent as of 2024, this is forecast to grow to 3.9 billion by 2100. This is underlined by the fact that most of the countries wit the highest population growth rate are found in Africa. The growing population, in combination with climate change, puts increasing pressure on the world's resources.

In 2022, the largest amount of naphtha imports to Japan, amounting to almost 6.5 million kiloliters, came from the U.A.E. Qatar ranked second at more than 4.5 million kiloliters. The total naphtha import volume from the Middle East stood at about 16.3 million kiloliters in that year. Japan lacks domestic reserves of fossil fuels and is therefore dependent on imports.

In 2025, Luxembourg was the country with the highest gross domestic product per capita in the world. Of the 20 listed countries, 13 are in Europe and five are in Asia, alongside the U.S. and Australia. There are no African or Latin American countries among the top 20. Correlation with high living standards While GDP is a useful indicator for measuring the size or strength of an economy, GDP per capita is much more reflective of living standards. For example, when compared to life expectancy or indices such as the Human Development Index or the World Happiness Report, there is a strong overlap - 14 of the 20 countries on this list are also ranked among the 20 happiest countries in 2024, and all 20 have "very high" HDIs. Misleading metrics? GDP per capita figures, however, can be misleading, and to paint a fuller picture of a country's living standards then one must look at multiple metrics. GDP per capita figures can be skewed by inequalities in wealth distribution, and in countries such as those in the Middle East, a relatively large share of the population lives in poverty while a smaller number live affluent lifestyles.