2005 ICP Regional Summary: Middle East and North Africa
Overview
TenMiddle East and North Africa(MNA) countries participated in the 2005 ICP. Most of the countries participated in the West Asia program coordinated by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).Iran was part of the Asia/Pacificprogramand Morocco and Tunisia participated in the Africa program. Egypt participated in both the West Asia and Africa programs. Algeriaand Libyadid not participate in the 2005 ICP.
All regional values include only the countries that participated in the 2005 International Comparison Program.
Size of the economy
PPP-based GDP figures indicate that the MNA economies account for 2.9 percent of the world economy as opposed to 1.2 percent based on GDP converted to US dollar using market exchange rates.Iran and Egypt are the largest economies in the region and account for about 70 percent of the MNA’s GDP and over half of the population.
Living Standards
The region’s average GDP per capita in 2005 was $6150 in PPP terms.Only Oman and Iran are above that mark.
economy / GDP per capita, PPP ($)Middle-East and North Africa / 6,153
Oman / 11,466
Iran, Islamic Rep. / 6,869
Lebanon / 4,208
Tunisia / 4,091
Egypt, Arab Rep. / 3,234
Jordan / 2,932
SyrianArabRepublic / 2,644
Morocco / 2,142
Iraq / 1,811
Yemen, Rep. / 1,453
Actual Individual Consumption
Actual individual consumption is measured by the total value of household final consumption expenditure, expenditures by non-profit institutions (such as NGOs and charities) serving households, and government expenditure on individual consumption goods and services (such as education or health).Oman and Lebanon have consumption per capita levels above the world average, and all the other countries are less than half of the world average.
PPP-based measures of collective government consumption
Collectivegovernment consumption expenditures consist of expenditures incurred by general and local governments for collective consumption services such as defense, justice, general administration,and the protection of the environment. Lower prices for such services in developing countries tend to reduce the dispersion of collective government consumption per capita across regions compared to that observed for per capita GDPs. Oman’s level of collective government consumption per capita is more than four times the world average. Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon all exceed the world average as well.
PPP-based measures of gross fixed capital formation
Gross fixed capital formation measures countries’ investment expenditures, which are mostly comprised of purchases of equipment and construction services.
Price level indexes
Aprice level index (PLI) is the ratio of a PPP to the market exchange rate of the numeraire currency. PLIs are used to compare price levels between countries. The PLI indicates the relative price of GDP (or its components) in a country, as if it were “purchased” after acquiring local currency at the prevailing exchange rate. PLIs are generally low in poorest countries. This reflects the common experience of travelers who find many (but not all) of the goods and services in the poorest countries relatively cheap compared to similar products in their home country.
PLIs typically increase with income levels. Egypt and Iran appear to have relatively cheap goods and services for their level of GDP per capita. In contrast, Morocco and Jordan appear expensive.