How much do Arab countries allocate to the poor and social support in 2025? | economy

Poverty in the Arab region is one of the main challenges that governments seek to confront and reduce. According to a report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), a third of the region’s population (about 35%) is expected to fall below the poverty threshold in 2024 and 2025.

According to the Regional Office for Arab States (RBAS), which is headquartered in New York and affiliated with the United Nations Development Program, which works in 17 Arab countries, the Arab region is the only region in the world in which the poverty rate has increased since 2010, as measured by the number of people living in it. Extreme poverty (people who earn less than $1.25 per day). In 2010, 4% of the population in the Arab region lived below the international poverty line of $1.25 per day. While 40% lived on less than $2.75 a day.

It is expected that most Arab countries will witness a slight decline in poverty rates. However, poverty is expected to remain remarkably high in low-income countries, as it will likely exceed 63%, according to the ESCWA report.

The war on Gaza threatens to push the entire population of the Strip – about 2.3 million Palestinians – into multidimensional poverty, which means deprivation of the basic necessities for survival.

In middle-income Arab countries, poverty rates rise significantly, reaching about 24%, and in high-income countries, poverty rates are expected to fall to less than 10%.

Factors increasing poverty in the Arab region

According to the Regional Office for Arab States, the most important factors for increasing poverty in Arab countries are the following:

• Escalating political instability, ongoing conflicts, and mass displacement as a result of wars in the region.
• Worsening economic crises, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The Russian-Ukrainian war, which led to an increase in grain and food prices in the region, which relies heavily on importing its food needs, especially grain and wheat, from the two countries.
• High unemployment rates in Arab countries, reaching record levels, as a large percentage of the region’s population who are under the age of 30 suffer from not finding a job opportunity, and according to the ESCWA report, the unemployment rate among youth is estimated at about 26.4% in 2023.
• Increasing debt and financial restrictions in many Arab countries.

The problem of poverty and unemployment is exhausting Arab countries, which are forced to allocate a large portion of their budgets to social protection programs and support prices and basic products.

Forms of government support

Forms of government support vary between countries, depending on the economic conditions experienced by each country.

Researcher Dr. Nasr Abdel Rahman, in his lengthy study entitled “Support for Basic Commodities in the Arab Region,” published in the “Network of Arab Non-Governmental Organizations for Development,” identified the forms of government support in the Arab world as follows:

• Commodity support through support for basic food commodities, support for petroleum products, support for electricity and water, or support for medicines and health insurance.
• Support for some services, such as reducing public transportation prices for students.
• Government support directed for development purposes, such as providing soft loans to citizens, and supporting social housing for marginalized or poor social groups.
• Direct cash subsidies to those in need, such as supporting needy families with monthly cash amounts, tax subsidies, and other subsidies.

Below is a list of the most prominent Arab countries that have allocated large sums to social support and protection programs as stated in their 2025 budget, while no data is available for other Arab countries yet.

1- Egypt

• General budget 2024-2025: 6.4 trillion pounds ($135.4 billion).
• Allocations for the social support system in the budget: 635.9 billion pounds ($12.6 billion), representing 9.3% of the budget. Among the most prominent sectors that were supported are the following:

• 134.1 billion pounds to support food commodities ($2.65 billion).
• 154.5 billion pounds in allocations to support petroleum resources ($3 billion).
• 11.9 billion pounds ($235.6 million) to support social housing.
• Supporting the Social Security pension and the “Solidarity and Dignity” program with 40 billion pounds ($791.9 million).
• Increase the minimum wage by 50% to 6,000 pounds per month ($118).

2- Saudi Arabia

• General budget 2025: 1.28 trillion Saudi riyals ($342.6 billion).
• The Saudi government allocated 181.1 billion riyals ($48.2 billion) for social support in its 2025 budget, and the most prominent sectors that were supported are:

• 41.5 billion riyals ($11 billion) for the citizen’s account.
• 23.5 billion riyals ($6.25 billion) in expenses for medicines and medical supplies.
• 35.8 billion riyals ($9.5 billion) for social security.
• 10.9 billion riyals ($2.9 billion) in subsidies for agricultural and food projects.
• 5.3 billion riyals ($1.4 billion) to support people with special needs.
• 5.3 billion riyals ($1.4 billion) to support housing.
• 13.1 billion riyals ($3.5 billion) to support stabilization of the local price of gasoline.

3- Morocco

• General budget 2025: 721 billion dirhams ($72.1 billion).
• The Kingdom of Morocco’s 2025 budget focused on strengthening the state’s social pillars by allocating:

• 37 billion dirhams ($3.7 billion) for social protection.
• 16.5 billion dirhams ($1.7 billion) to support the stability of prices of basic materials.
• 8.9 billion dirhams ($884.4 million) to improve housing.
• 2.5 billion dirhams ($248.4 million) to rehabilitate areas affected by floods.

4- Algeria

• General budget 2025: 16 thousand and 700 billion Algerian dinars ($128 billion).
• The Algerian government allocated about a third of its budget to social transfers (price subsidies and grants to vulnerable groups and those with rights) within the framework of the draft finance law for the year 2025, equivalent to 5.87 trillion dinars ($42.57 billion), which is approximately 33% of the budget.

This support included a wide range of different sectors, including:

• Housing: 349.3 billion dinars ($2.6 billion).
• Mujahideen and rights holders: 251.6 billion dinars ($1.8 billion).
• Grants: 214.7 billion dinars ($1.6 billion).
• Social protection: 28.1 billion dinars ($206 million).
• Investment support: 5.1 billion dinars ($37.4 million).
• People with special needs: 2.6 billion dinars ($19.5 million).
• Consumer protection: 1.9 billion dinars ($14.1 million).

5- Jordan

• General budget 2025: 12.51 billion Jordanian dinars ($17.62 billion), according to the Jordanian Prime Minister and the Jordan News Agency.
• The draft budget for 2025 included a set of points allocated for social support, the most prominent of which are:

• National Aid Fund for Beneficiary Families: $394.7 million.
• Support for universities: 75 million dinars ($105.7 million).
• Needy Student Support Fund: 30 million dinars ($42.3 million).
• Allocations for medical treatments and treatment exemptions: 135 million dinars ($190.3 million).
• Support for food commodities: 180 million dinars ($253.7 million).
• Home gas cylinder support: 5 million dinars ($88 million).

6- Qatar

• General budget 2025: 210.2 billion Qatari riyals ($57.6 billion).

• The Qatari government allocated 2.7 billion riyals ($741.7 million) to social services in its 2025 budget.
• Allocations for salaries and wages in the 2025 budget increased by 5.5% compared to last year, reaching 67.5 billion riyals ($18.5 million).
• Allocations for the health and education sectors amounted to 41.4 billion riyals (about 11 billion dollars), which represents about 20% of the budget, which reflects the state’s continued commitment to policies for developing human capital and raising the quality of services provided, according to the Qatar News Agency.

• General budget 2025: 11.8 billion Omani riyals ($30.6 billion).
• The Omani government allocated 577 million riyals ($1.5 billion) in its 2025 budget for the social protection system, and the most prominent sectors that were supported are:

• 15 million riyals ($39 million) to support food commodities.
• 73 million riyals ($189.6 million) to support interest on development and housing loans.
• 35 million riyals ($90.9 million) to support petroleum products.
• 82 million riyals ($213 million) to support the transportation sector.
• 25 million riyals ($65 million) to support other sectors.

• General budget 2024/2025: 24.5 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($79.4 billion).
• The Kuwaiti government allocated 429.6 million Kuwaiti dinars ($1.5 billion) for social protection, representing 1.75% of the budget, including:

• 91.6 million dinars ($297 million) for housing.
• 16.08 million dinars ($52.3 million) for family and children.
• An amount of 314.6 million dinars ($1 billion) for social protection not classified elsewhere.