Live: The population of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries reached 57.6 million people in 2023, compared to 56.6 million people in 2022, with the percentage of males reaching 62.4%, while females constituted 37.6%, while the population density reached 23.9 people per square kilometer, and the area of the Council countries is 2.4 million square kilometers.

The Gulf Statistical Center issued the ninth issue of the Statistical Atlas of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries for the year 2024 AD, which includes the most important statistical maps, data panels, interactive statistical information, their elements and distributions at the level of the Council countries and at the level of administrative regions, illustrated with graphs and geographical maps, and linking statistical information to its geographical location, which doubles the value of statistical information and enhances its use in planning in many fields, according to the Emirates News Agency "WAM", today, Saturday.

In his speech at the launch of the statistical atlas, Jassim Mohammed Al-Badawi, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, stressed that statistics represent one of the most important pillars of planning and development in the joint Gulf action process, and that the statistical atlas is a living model of data sources that contribute to drawing future policies to achieve more growth and prosperity for the GCC countries under the wise leadership of Their Majesties and Highnesses, the leaders of the GCC countries. At the same time, he stressed the commitment of the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council to provide the necessary support to enhance joint statistical work among the GCC countries, in a way that achieves the interests of their peoples and enhances their economic position on the international scene.

Intisar bint Abdullah Mubarak Al Wahaibi, Director General of the Statistical Center for the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, pointed out that the Statistical Atlas is considered one of the leading annual publications in the field of geospatial information systems, noting that it is distinguished by an innovative approach to statistical indicators by integrating them with geographic information, which contributes to enhancing access to data and analyzing it in a deeper and more comprehensive manner.

She explained that the statistical atlas is an effective development tool for integrating official statistics with geographic information systems, which facilitates reading and analyzing indicators through interactive maps.

The atlas indicates that the total workforce in the GCC countries amounted to about 33.1 million workers in 2023, compared to 30.3 million in 2022, and that there are 45.0 million people of working age (15 years and over), explaining that the marriage rate in the GCC countries in 2022 amounted to 4.7 marriage contracts per 1,000 of the total population (15 years and over), while the divorce rate amounted to about 1.8 cases per 1,000 people (15 years and over).

He explained that 712.4 thousand students is the total number of students in the early childhood development stage, which includes nurseries and kindergartens in the GCC countries for the years 2021/2022 AD, while the total number of students in the school education stage reached 8.9 million students.

The center confirmed that the number of government hospitals in the GCC countries in 2022 amounted to about 843 hospitals, representing 58.4% of the total number of hospitals, while the percentage of private hospitals amounted to 41.6%. The number of beds in Gulf hospitals amounted to about 122.1 thousand beds, of which 74.6% were in government hospitals and 25.4% in private hospitals for the year 2022, while the number of doctors in the aforementioned year amounted to about 29.6 doctors and the number of nurses was about 61.2 nurses, for every 10,000 of the total population.

Regarding water statistics in the GCC countries, the center’s data indicated that the amount of rainfall in the GCC countries during the period 2000-2022 increased by about 18.8%, reaching about 214.1 billion cubic liters per year for the year 2022.

While the amount of desalinated water production increased by about 9.0%, the amount of treated water used to irrigate green spaces amounted to about 1.4 billion cubic liters/year, and the volume of wastewater amounted to about 3.7 billion cubic liters/year, while the annual growth rate in the number of sewage plants in the GCC countries amounted to about 10.1% for the year 2022 compared to the year 2021.

Regarding foreign trade, the Gulf Atlas indicated that the volume of trade in goods between the GCC countries amounted to 1,482.4 billion US dollars in 2023, and the total commodity exports amounted to 823.1 billion US dollars. National oil exports accounted for 63.8%, non-oil commodity exports 19.3%, and re-exports 16.9%, while the total value of inter-commodity exports amounted to 131.6 billion US dollars.

Regarding the macroeconomy, the GCC countries’ GDP in 2023 at current prices amounted to 2,113.3 billion US dollars, and the annual growth rate of GDP decreased by about 3.5% compared to 2022, and the general inflation rate in 2023 amounted to about 2.2%.

In the field of tourism, the center’s data indicated that the number of incoming tourists (coming to the GCC countries) in 2023 amounted to about 68.1 million tourists, the number of hotel establishments was 10.9 thousand establishments, and the total number of rooms was 696.6 thousand rooms.

The number of fixed telephone lines in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in 2023 AD reached 5.5 million lines, and the number of mobile phone subscriptions reached 94.9 million subscriptions.