The Arab World Competitiveness Report 2013

The Arab World Competitiveness Report 2013 highlights a significant divide between the high competitiveness of Gulf countries and the lagging performance of North African and Levantine economies. Using the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), the report identifies restrictive labour regulations and weak institutional frameworks as primary obstacles to business development across the region. While Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE lead the regional rankings, countries like Egypt, Algeria, and Yemen face severe challenges in macroeconomic stability, education quality, and governance. The report argues that strengthening the private sector through structural reforms is essential to address the region's critical youth unemployment crisis.

• Qatar is the most competitive economy in the Arab world, ranking 11th globally, supported by a stable macroeconomic environment and an efficient goods market.
• A stark competitiveness gap exists between the Gulf countries and the economies of North Africa and the Levant, particularly regarding infrastructure and macroeconomic development.
• Restrictive labour regulations are identified as the most significant factor hindering business development for the Arab world as a whole.
• Higher education and training is the only GCI category where no Arab country has reached the levels of the EU27.
• Saudi Arabia ranks 19th globally, benefiting from macroeconomic stability and ICT use, but struggles with low rankings in health and primary education (58th) and labour market efficiency (59th).
• The United Arab Emirates ranks 24th globally, with particular strengths in infrastructure (8th) and goods markets (5th), while pursuing a knowledge-based economy via the UAE Vision 2021.
• Egypt's competitiveness has declined to 107th place, driven by a deteriorating macroeconomic environment (138th) and a poor security situation (128th) following the Arab Spring.
• Algeria ranks 110th, possessing a stable macroeconomic environment (23rd) and large market size (49th), but is severely hampered by corruption (138th) and a weak financial sector (142nd).
• Yemen is the least competitive country in the sample, ranking 140th, with critical deficiencies in its institutional framework (139th), infrastructure (139th), and health and education (122nd).
• In the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region—Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia—structural reforms from the 1980s remain incomplete, particularly regarding competition policy and governance.

APA

World Economic Forum (2013). The Arab World Competitiveness Report 2013. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_AWCR_Report_2013.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. The Arab World Competitiveness Report 2013. 2013. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_AWCR_Report_2013.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=The Arab World Competitiveness Report 2013 |date=May 2013 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_AWCR_Report_2013.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2013arab, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{The Arab World Competitiveness Report 2013}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2013}, month = may, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_AWCR_Report_2013.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }