This year, Arab Day comes as the population of the Arab world reaches about 511 million, ranking third globally after India and China. About 60 percent of them live in the African part of the Arab world, especially in Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, and Morocco, which are home to about 51 percent of the Arab world's population.
The Council indicated that the population of the Arab world is expected to rise to about 591 million in 2035, and to about 718 million by 2050, an increase of about 207 million over the next 24 years, with an average annual increase of about 9 million people.
The data showed a significant disparity in fertility levels, as Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, and Tunisia recorded low rates below the replacement level of two children or less per woman. The presence of expatriate populations in Gulf countries may have contributed to influencing the rate estimate, while rates ranged between 2.1 and 2.9 in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Morocco, Jordan, Syria, Djibouti, Algeria, Palestine, and Egypt, and between 3 and 3.9 in Libya, Iraq, and Yemen, while the highest rates were recorded in Somalia at 6.4, Mauritania at 4.8, Sudan at 4.2, and Comoros at 4 births per woman.
Arab societies remain generally young, as children under the age of 15 make up about 30 percent of the total population. The percentage rises in low-income countries, with Somalia recording 48 percent, Yemen 44 percent, Mauritania 42 percent, and Sudan 40 percent, which poses a developmental challenge in education, healthcare, and nutrition, compared to a low percentage in the Gulf, reaching 15 percent in Qatar, 16 percent in the UAE, and 18 percent in Kuwait due to declining fertility and a high proportion of young expatriate labor.
The elderly aged 65 and over make up less than 5 percent of the population of most Arab countries, with Qatar and the UAE recording the lowest percentage, not exceeding 2 percent, while Tunisia recorded 10 percent, Morocco 9 percent, Lebanon 8 percent, and Algeria 7 percent, due to the decline in fertility in the past two decades and the presence of a proportion of their populations outside the country.
