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Youth Explosion in the MENA Region-I •
Population
growth is creating a “youth explosion.” This
growth has already raised the size of the young working age population
(ages 20 to 24) in the Gulf area from 5.5 million in 1970 to 13 million
in 2000, million. Conservative estimates indicate it will grow to 18
million in 2010 and to 24 million in 2050. If one looks at the MENA
region as a whole, age 20-24s have grown steadily from 10 million in
1950 to 36 million today, and will grow steadily to at least 56 million
by 2050. •
The
World Bank estimates that some 36% of the total MENA population is less
than 15 years of age versus
21% in the US and 16% in the EU. The ratio of dependents to each working
age man and woman is three times that in a developed region like the EU.
The US State Department has produced estimates that more than 45% of the
population is under 15 years of age. •
Youth
unemployment provides a recruitment pool for extremists:
Most of the MENA countries have large unemployment rates. People in the
region tend to blame this on governments in the region and outside
supporters such as the US. The unemployed have proven to be a fertile
ground for extremists’ recruitments. •
Immigration
is being driven by economic and social forces and creates new challenges
of its own.
It is hardly surprising therefore that the Arab Development Report
should mention surveys where 50% of the young Arab males surveyed stated
their career plan was to immigrate
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