Panorama MENA

How do the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) economies perform after the social and political turmoil caused by the so called “Arab Spring” late in 2010? Have social and economic demands of
protesters resulted in a healthier economic outlook in these countries?

In the MENA region, there was always a divergence in economic performance between oil importing and oil exporting countries, which was reflected in the political and social situation. These differences in economic performances seem to have increased despite the protests and demand for revolution since the start of uprisings in the Arab world. The GDP of hydrocarbon exporting countries increased from 4
times that of the importing countries in 2010 to almost 5 times in 2013. The GDP of Saudi Arabia, the highest in the area is nearly three times that of Egypt.