New Interactive Map: Taking Stock of the Youth Challenge in the Middle East

The Middle East Youth Initiative has released a new online interactive map with key statistics on youth-related issues for all 18 Middle East countries, based on analysis by Samantha Constant and Mary Kraetsch. The map includes key statistics related to each country’s economy, demographics, education and youth employment status.

View the interactive map >>

View the Arabic version >>

There are four main findings that can be drawn from the Middle East Youth interactive map:

1. Most countries in the Middle East region have already reached the peak of their "youth bulge". For most countries, the youth proportion of the population will begin to decline over the next ten years. However, there are still countries in the region, such as Iraq and the West Bank and Gaza, where the youth share of the population will remain level or continue to grow.
2. Most countries in the region have achieved near-universal school enrollment at the primary level. Enrollment rates at the secondary and tertiary levels are more varied across countries, but indicate a high level of educational achievement in many countries in the region.
3. The region's youth unemployment rates remain high, and high levels of school enrollment have not translated into similar positive trends in the youth labor market.
4. While the gender gap in educational enrollment has narrowed across all levels of education, unemployment rates for young women continue to remain much higher than those for young men in the region.