UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

The Arab States
TRENDS IN R&D
Investment remains low but change is in the air
Gross domestic expenditure on research and development
(GERD) as a percentage of GDP remains low in the Arab world.
It is, of course, hard for wealthy oil-rent economies like the Gulf
States to have a substantial GERD/GDP ratio, as GDP is so high.
The countries with the greatest R&D intensity are Libya and
Morocco (Figure 17.5). Tunisia used to have the Arab world’s
highest ratio but, after revising its national data, it published a
GERD/GDP ratio of 0.71% in 2009 and 0.68% in 2012. The R&D
intensity of Egypt, Jordan and Sudan has been low for decades,
despite a growing number of public and private universities.
That appears to be changing in Egypt, the only country for
which there are recent data for this indicator: GERD reached
an all-time high of 0.68% of GDP in 2013. Iraq, meanwhile, has
failed to use the windfall of high oil prices in recent years to
raise its own GERD/GDP ratio, which stood at about 0.03% in
2011. Most Arab States are still trailing fellow members of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation for this indicator, including
Malaysia (1.07% in 2011) and Turkey (0.86% in 2011).
Figure 17.5: GERD/GDP ratio in the Arab world, 2009
and 2013 or closest years (%)
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Libya
2009
2013
2009
2013
2009
2011
2008
2014
0.04
0.04
0.05
0.03
0.43
0.43
0.68
0.86
Although data on the type of R&D performed are only available
for a handful of countries, they suggest a heavy focus on applied
research in the Arab world. In 2011, Kuwait invested the entirety
of GERD in applied research, compared to about two-thirds for
Iraq and half for Qatar, according to the UNESCO Institute for
Statistics. The remainder in Qatar was equally divided between
basic research and experimental development. One-quarter of
investment (26.6% in 2011) in Qatar went to medical and health
sciences.
The greatest researcher density: Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia
In a context of rapid population growth, the number of
researchers per million population is a more telling indicator of
progress than sheer numbers. With 1 394 full-time equivalent
(FTE) researchers per million inhabitants in 2012, Tunisia leads the
Arab world for this category, followed by Morocco (Figure 17.6).
Jordan has a density of researchers similar to that of Tunisia
(1 913 in head counts) but this figure dates from 2008.
Kuwait*
Morocco
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia*
2009
2013
2006
2010
2009
2013
2012
2009
0.11
0.13
0.17
0.07
0.30
0.47
0.64
0.73
Egypt and Bahrain close to gender parity
Egypt (43% women) and Bahrain (41%) are relatively close to
gender parity (Figure 17.7). In the majority of other countries
for which data are available, women make up between one
in three and one in five researchers. The notable exception is
Saudi Arabia, where just 1.4% of researchers were women in
2009, although only the King Abdulaziz City for Science and
Technology was surveyed. A number of countries have been
building up their researcher intensity in recent years, albeit
from low levels. Palestine is remarkable, in this respect. Thanks
to the efforts of Palestinian universities, the government and
the Palestine Academy of Science and Technology, 23% of
researchers were women by 2013.
Tunisia**
UAE
2009
2012
2011
*estimation **based on national estimation
0.49*
0.68
Note: Data are partial for Bahrain (higher education only), Kuwait
(government sector only in 2009) and Saudi Arabia.
0.71
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, January 2015; for Sudan: Noor
(2012); for Oman: Al-Hiddabi (2014); for Libya: National Planning Council
(2014) National Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation
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