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Sub-Saharan African countries represent around one-third of the total, followed by Latin America and the Middle East (the latter two together accounting for over 40% of the overall). Consisting of, there has been an (from 90.3 in 2000-04 to 92.6 and 92.3 in the five years pre- and post-pandemic ).
and ranked greater than others; UAE is up more than 45 locations in 2024 compared to 2000 while Qatar climbed 24; both Saudi Arabia and Oman increased 17 ranks during the period. The caught or even worse off countries are some parts of Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa where structural improvement has actually stalled.
reveals a significant boost in average EDI scores from 86.8 in 2000-04 to 92.6 in 2020-24, (up more than 10 points in the preliminary duration versus 2020-24). with UAE outperforming in the trade sub-index (supported by current bilateral trade contracts & non-oil exports push). vs its pre-pandemic reading (partially given the rise in medium & state-of-the-art manufacturing data).
Its diversification metrics have stagnated, revealing the least improvement between the preliminary (2000-04) and last (2020-24) referral periods., despite the headwinds of OPEC+ production cuts. A robust non-hydrocarbon expansion was supported by the GCC's robust domestic need (supported by a strong project pipeline and execution) and strong services sector performance.
What Global Investors Look for in the 2026 GCC MarketKuwait and Saudi Arabia clocked in an increase in non-hydrocarbon income, "mostly reflecting non-hydrocarbon tax base growths and revenue collection effectiveness improvements", according to the IMF. In the existing geopolitical environment defined by magnifying, it is in the very best interests of commodity dependent countries to diversify its export base, exports and trade partners.
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