Abu Dhabi

The Arab Federation for the Digital Economy of the Council of Arab Economic Unity of the League of Arab States has issued an English version of its report “The Arab Digital Economy Index 2022”, with the aim of introducing the international community to the characteristics and advantages of the new indicator, to support and enhance opportunities for growth of the digital economy in the Arab region.

The Arab Index of the Digital Economy – which was prepared by a large number of international experts – is one of the most important initiatives of the “Arab Vision for the Digital Economy”, and it relied in its data on the approved international indicators issued by the World Bank, the United Nations, the World Economic Forum and the World Bank.

The Arab Digital Economy Index includes nine main pillars of measurement related to infrastructure, innovation, markets, business, institutional and governmental structures, workforce, digital skills, e-government services, knowledge, technology, financial markets and sustainable development.

The report showed that the GCC countries continue to lead the Arab region in digital transformation, as the UAE topped the general index, followed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain. Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco have also made a qualitative leap in their rank in implementing the sustainable development goals.

The report shows that Arab countries need to prepare better for possible future scenarios, and the need to intensify investments in developing digital infrastructure and the legislative system, especially in the second and third group countries, to bridge the growing digital divide.

The Arab Digital Economy Index report for 2022 shows that Arab countries need to develop the workforce in the near future so that they can take full advantage of the global digital economy. In addition, Arab countries need to strengthen fixed broadband infrastructure, as the global econometric model shows that an increase in broadband penetration by 10 percent would lead to an increase in per capita GDP by 71.0 percent for Arab countries.

It is worth noting that the “Arab Vision for the Digital Economy” – which was launched at the end of 2018 in Abu Dhabi – is of great importance as it consolidates the building of the ambitious Arab project, as it aims to support social and economic growth in the Arab region.

Study download link (English):

https://arab-digital-economy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-05.pdf

Study download link (Arabic):

https://arab-digital-economy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2022-01.pdf