The statistic shows gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the MENA countries in 2023. GDP is the total value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year. It is considered to be a very important indicator of the economic strength of a country and a positive change is an indicator of economic growth. The MENA region in North Africa and Asia comprises Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. In 2023, the estimated GDP per capita in Algeria amounted to around ******** U.S. dollars.

******* had the highest level of the Human Development Index (HDI) worldwide in 2023 with a value of *****. With a score of ****, ****** followed closely behind *********** and had the second-highest level of human development in that year. The rise of the Asian tigers In the decades after the Cold War, the four so-called Asian tigers, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong (now a Special Administrative Region of China) experienced rapid economic growth and increasing human development. At number eight and number 13 of the HDI, respectively, *********************** are the only Asian locations within the top-15 highest HDI scores. Both locations have experienced tremendous economic growth since the 1980’s and 1990’s. In 1980, the per capita GDP of Hong Kong was ***** U.S. dollars, increasing throughout the decades until reaching ****** in 2023, which is expected to continue to increase in the future. Meanwhile, in 1989, Singapore had a GDP of nearly ** billion U.S. dollars, which has risen to nearly *** billion U.S. dollars today and is also expected to keep increasing. Growth of the UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the only Middle Eastern country besides Israel within the highest ranking HDI scores globally. Within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the UAE has the third-largest GDP behind Saudi Arabia and Israel, reaching nearly *** billion U.S. dollars by 2022. Per capita, the UAE GDP was around ****** U.S. dollars in 1989, and has nearly doubled to ****** U.S. dollars by 2021. Moreover, this is expected to reach over ****** U.S. dollars by 2029. On top of being a major oil producer, the UAE has become a hub for finance and business and attracts millions of tourists annually.

The average for 2022 based on 110 countries was 17.45 percent. The highest value was in Norway: 31.34 percent and the lowest value was in the United Arab Emirates: 0.58 percent. The indicator is available from 1972 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

In 2015, Dubai was the city with the highest number of tourists staying at least one night per capita. That same year, international overnight visitor spending in Dubai reached 28.5 billion US dollars. The city, which is the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, was also one of the most expensive holiday destinations in the world in 2018. In 2016, 14.87 million people visited Dubai from abroad.

Europe and Asia: top destinations

According to the source, most of the 20 tourist cities with the highest number of visitor arrivals per capita were Asian or European cities. After Dubai, Amsterdam and Prague were the second and third cities with the greatest number of tourists spending at least one night per capita. With respectively, 2.7 and 2.5 visitors per capita, the two European cities were followed by another one: London. Singapore, ranked fifth with 2.1 visitors per capita, was the first Asian city in the list. Thus, New-York the first North American city of this ranking was 17th. It appears that Europe remains one of the most popular tourist destinations. Asia was also a very attractive destinations for international visitors with Hong-Kong being the leading city destination in 2017.

Focus on tourism in Europe

Since the nineties, the number of international tourist arrivals in Europe keeps increasing. France is the European country with the largest number of international visitors’ arrivals, while Spain and Italy are also two of the leading tourist destinations on the continent. Travel and tourism have an important contribution to GDP in Europe, reaching 781.6 billion US dollar and 2018 and expected to attain 991.4 billion in 2028.