The document presents data on adolescents and young adults aged 10-24 in 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. It provides statistics on the percentage of each age group (10-14, 15-19, 20-24) in the total population of each country. It also lists the number of adolescents and young adults in each country by age group and sex. The data aims to assess quality of life across different domains like education, health, and economic opportunities, and highlights gaps where data is lacking.

1. DATAN SHEET D2012 & N O RT H A F R I C A
A D O L E S C E T S I N T H E M I D L E E AST
According to ‘’UNICEF Progress For Children, A report card on adolescents 2012’’, some 82 million adolescents live in MENA, representing the largest cohort in the region’s history.
They experience inter-generational inequities (e.g. youth unemployment rates are 3 times the adult rates); acute gender inequalities(e.g. in LDCs 73% of out-of-school adolescents
are girls); poverty-related inequities and inequalities (e.g. in Egypt, only 12% of the poor population has completed secondary education – aggregated national average is 80%);
and, grave protection violations. MENA has the highest global Youth Inactivity Rate (out-of-school, out-of-work) and the situation of young women is worse than that of young
men, while the unemployment rates for educated youth are more than 5 times the rate for unskilled youth.
The recent events in the region have demonstrated clearly the critical importance of investing in the younger generation, and especially in adolescent girls and boys 10-19 years
of age. These events have also demonstrated that young people (10-24 years old) are acutely aware of political developments and have strong convictions about what constitutes
a more just society. Young people have been able to access far more varied sources of information, with social networking sites and recent advances in technology facilitating
the engagement of an increasingly connected youth cohort, especially through the use of mobile phone technology.
Through this Data Sheet, UNICEF presents a set of core indicators for assessing the quality of life for young people across 20 countries in the MENA region.The data sheet contains
more indicators than available data with the intention to show existing data gaps and to encourage further efforts on data collection. This list has been developed with the dual
goals of providing a view across various domains on adolescents and youth (education, health, economic livelihood, etc.) and presenting the best publicly available data. Political
and socio-cultural restrictions to data collection on ‘sensitive’ issues persist across MENA, and some groups of adolescents (particularly 10-14 year olds) remain statistically
invisible as their numbers are subsumed under broader demographic categories, hindering our ability to assess their situation and measure the impact of interventions. In the
years ahead, it will be critical for the MENA countries to continue to improve their monitoring systems of the situation of adolescents and youth in the region, so that countries
can better understand the situation of young people, both females and males, and ensure that more programming and policies for adolescents and youth are strategic and based
on sound evidence.
State of
Domain Indicator Definitions Algeria Bahrain Djibouti Egypt Iran Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya^ Morocco Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia Sudan ~ Syria ∏ Tunisia UAE Yemen
Palestine
Adolescents as a percentage of total
Percent of 10-14 year-olds in total population 8 7 12 11 8 12 12 7 10 10 9 12 10 4 10 12 12 7 5 13
population, age 10-14
Adolescents as a percentage of total
Percent of 15-19 year-olds in total population 9 7 11 12 9 11 11 7 11 9 10 11 10 4 10 11 11 8 5 12
population, age 15-19
Young adults as a percentage of total
Percent of 20-24 year-olds in total population 10 9 11 11 11 9 11 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 11
population, age 20-24
Total population aged 10 to 14 3,032,824 82,508 88,871 8,535,000 5,671,435 3,614,645 747,950 181,627 325,796 673,109 2,922,000 518,892 306,018 68,805 2,583,103 5,699,707 2,583,135 779,349 288,269 2,993,227
Number of adolescents of total
Demography Male 1,549,457 42,319 44,356 4,424,000 3,053,723 1,836,589 384,600 95,210 166,909 343,797 1,486,000 266,273 157,202 34,705 1,329,559 2,908,244 1,323,051 402,466 148,252 1,542,898
population, age 10-14
Female 1,483,367 40,189 44,515 4,111,000 2,896,876 1,778,056 363,350 86,462 158,887 329,312 1,435,000 252,619 148,816 34,100 1,253,544 2,791,463 1,260,120 376,883 140,017 1,450,329
Total population aged 15 to 19 3,484,443 91,567 85,842 9,438,000 6,607,043 3,597,525 685,800 172,191 358,362 593,622 3,103,000 485,468 310,592 86,417 2,537,405 5,138,863 2,419,584 904,035 280,627 2,882,649
Number of adolescents of total
Male 1,777,103 49,135 41,657 4,840,000 3,724,066 1,828,904 353,030 89,505 183,278 303,060 1,578,000 248,683 159,936 55,159 1,320,315 2,613,691 1,237,464 458,126 152,822 1,501,230
population, age 15-19
Female 1,707,340 42,432 44,185 4,598,000 3,527,065 1,768,621 332,770 82,686 175,084 290,562 1,525,000 236,785 150,656 31,258 1,217,090 2,525,172 1,182,120 445,909 127,805 1,381,418
Total population aged 20 to 24 3,785,522 106,879 84,356 8,695,000 8,414,497 3,084,381 661,880 238,117 385,178 605,571 3,160,000 407,566 320,468 195,080 2,731,980 4,375,589 2,337,710 930,073 461,076 2,484,944
Number of young adults of total
Male 1,916,627 61,545 38,552 4,451,000 4,728,585 1,566,505 343,050 135,876 196,062 308,873 1,597,000 208,891 170,955 152,783 1,491,092 2,209,655 1,193,678 463,739 287,734 1,289,016
population, age 20-24
Female 1,868,895 45,334 45,813 4,244,000 4,452,325 1,517,876 318,830 102,241 189,116 296,698 1,563,000 198,675 149,513 42,297 1,222,888 2,165,934 1,144,032 466,334 173,342 1,195,929
Total percentage of young women 20–24 years old who were married or in union
Child marriage: young women 2 5 17 17 10 6 16 19 33 13 32
before age 18
married before 18, age 20-24 [2000-
Child Urban [of Total Population] 2 5 9 16 10 12 22 15 28
2009]
Marriage Rural [of Total Population] 2 13 22 19 7 21 39 12 35
Child marriage: adolescent girls
Percentage of girls age 15-19 who are currently married/ in union 2 3 13 17 21 23 14 3 17 19 13 24 10 12 19
married at 15, age 15-19
The Human Development Index [HDI] is based on the average achievements in a
country in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life
Human Development Index Rank [health], access to knowledge [education] and a decent standard of living [income]. 96 of 187 42 of 187 165 of 187 113 of 187 88 of 187 132 of 187 95 of 187 63 of 187 71 of 187 64 of 187 130 of 187 114 of 187 89 of 187 37 of 187 56 of 187 169 of 187 119 of 187 94 of 187 30 of 187 154 of 187
The lower the number, the higher the level of human development [2011] of the
Poverty 187 countries and territories in the index.
[2008] 0.25
[2002] [2009] [2007]
Percentage of the total population living below $1.25 a day 7 2 4 [below 3 25 3 18
Poverty incidence 19 3 0.3
1.13USD]
Percentage of the population living below $2 USD a day 15 21 11 8 14 44
Percentage of literate youth aged 15 to 24, expressed as a percentage of the total
population in that age group. Total is the number of people age 15 to 24 years who
[2010] [2006] [2008] [2010] [2010] [2005]
can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement on their 92 77.5
100 84.9 98.6 96.8 97.8 95
everyday life, divided by the population in that age group. Generally, ‘literacy’ also
encompasses ‘numeracy’, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations.
Youth literacy rate [2005-2010] [2005]
Male 94 100 87.9 99 85 99 98.6 98 100 87 99 98 96.3 98.9 85 96 98 96
93.6
[2005]
Female 90 100 81.8 99 80 99 98.7 99 100 72 99 98 98.3 96.8 71 93 96 72
97
Gender Parity Index [GPI] Female/Male [F/M]. Ratio of girls to boys, the number of
0.96 1 1.5 0.99* 0.91* 1* 1* 1.01* 0.98 0.79 1* 0.99 1* 0.98 0.9 0.96 0.97 1.04* 0.71
female students who are iliterate to the number of males who are ilterate.
Ratio of young people enrolled in secondary school, regardless of age, to the
[2009] [2006] [2011] [2011] [2010] [2007] [2007] [2008] [2010] [2007] [2010] [2010/2011] [2010] [2010] [2009] [2010] [2009] [2006] [2010]
total number of young people of official secondary school age, including lower
95 103 36 76.3 91 53 87 101 81 56 86 101 94 101 34.8 72 90 92 44
secondary [also called 2nd cycle of basic]
Gross enrollment ratio
[2006]
[secondary] Male 102 32 76.3 72.51 98 77 60 83 101 86 103 35.3 72 88 92 54
101
Education
[2006]
Female 100 40 76.4 86.28 104 86 52 89 101 104 98 34.3 73 93 93 34
105
[2008] [2011/2012] [2010]
Gender Parity Index [GPI] Female/Male [F/M] 1.08y 1.04z 0.69 1 0.94y 0.66y 1.03 1.12 1.17z 0.86 1.06 0.95 0.93 0.97 1.10y 1.01 0.49
1.07 0.98 1.21
Ratio of young people enrolled in secondary school of official secondary school [2009] [2006] [2008] [2009] [2009] [2007] [2010] [2008] [2011] [2009] [2011] [2010/2011] [2011] [2009] [2010] [2009] [2006] [2011]
[2009]
age 62.8 94 24 64.8 83 44 86 89 76 56 81 95 91 38 67 82 81 40
Male [of the total number of young people of official secondary school age] 59.4 92 28 63.6 [2007] 79 49 83 86 72 77 96 87 70 67 80 48
Net enrollment ratio
[secondary] Female [of the total number of young people of official secondary school age] 66.4 97 20 65.9 39 88 93 80 85 95 96 76 67 82 31
[2007] 75
Gender Parity Index [GPI] Female/Male [F/M]. Ratio of girls to boys, the number
[2009] [2009] [2008] [2011] [2010] [2008] [2008] [2009] [2010] [2010] [2011/2012] [2010] [2010] [2010] [2010]
of female students enrolled at secondary level of education to the number of male
1.11 1.05 0.72 1.04 0.87 0.81 1.06 1.03 1.12 1.07 0.98 1.22 1.09 1.01 0.63
students.
The number of new entrants to the first grade of secondary school in a given year
[2011/2012]
as a percentage of the number of students enrolled in the final grade of primary 81 96 88 86 83 88.7 98 100 86 80 97 99 88 95 84 98 83
97
Progression to secondary school school in the previous year
Male 78 95 90 83 89 87.2 98 100 83 80 97 97 97 88 95 81 98 83
Female 84 98 85 89 77 90.8 97 100 89 79 98 96 100 88 96 87 99 83
The percentage of economically active youth, 15-24. The active population [or
labor force] is defined as the sum of persons in employment and unemployed 28 46 36 33 68 16 35 50
Labor force participation rate [%], persons seeking employment.
age 15-24 [2009]
Male 47 56 48 48 49 49 39 44 44 50 53 42 53 79 25 43 49 44 62 52
Female 9 33 40 20 13 8 10 25 21 24 19 8 24 36 7 27 9 22 31 21
Percentage of all youth aged 15-24 who during the reference period were: without [2011]
Economic 43 [2007] [2011] [2008] [2010] [2007] [2009] [2008] [2007] [2008] [2010] [2008]
Youth unemployment rate [2007- work, currently available for work and seeking work 23
Livelihood
2010] ø Male [of the total number of young people who are economically active] 47 17 23 20 26 22 19 38 1 23 15 7
Female [of the total number of young people who are economically active] 36 47 43 47 21 22 47 7 45 14 21
full time employed 27 31 13 32 21 31 45 39 21 12 35 43 27 30 29 33 18
Employment Status among youth part-time employed 12 1 1 5 5 1 1 4 8 4 4 2 7 8 3 4 12
aged 15 to 29 [2009] - Percentage of
youth , age 15 to 29 years who are: full time student, not employed 29 41 60 30 36 47 47 39 30 46 51 28 35 38 42 51 20
not in school, not employed 32 27 26 33 38 21 8 18 41 38 12 28 31 24 26 12 49
Adolescent fertility rate [2011] Births per 1000 adolescent girls age 15-19 7.3 14.9 22.9 46.6 29.5 82 26.5 13.8 16.2 3.2 15.1 53.5 9.2 16.2 11.6 56.5 42.8 5.7 26.7 78.8
Contraceptive Prevalence [various Females Age 15 to 19 20 16 23 21 26 38 5 22 11 9
years between 1990-2010] for women
and girls - Percentage of adolescent
girls and women married or in-union
aged 15 to 49 who are currently using, Females Age 15 to 49 61 62 18 60 73 53 59 52 58 45 67 50 32 43 24 9 58 60 28 28
or whose sexual partner is using, at
least one method of contraception,
regardless of the method used
Percentage of adolescents [age 13-15] who went hungry most of the time or [2007] [2006] [2007] [2005] [2007] [2006] [2008] [2005] [2008]
Percentage of adolescents [2005]
always during the past 30 days because there was not enough food in their home 18 5 13 3 14 9 7 9 15
Physical experiencing food insecurity
Health [2005-2008] Male [of total adolescent population] 18 5 13 3 16 11 8 8 10 18
Female [of total adolescent population] 19 5 13 2 11 7 6 6 8 20
Percentage of young adults aged Male [of total youth population] 15# 18# 8# 19*
20-24 who are obese - Percentage of
young people who are at or above
the 95th percentile for body-mass Female [of total youth population] 20# 19 9 19# 5# 19* 2*
index [BMI]§
Percentage of adolescents [age 13-15] who use any form of tobacco on one or [2005] [2007] [2005] [2006] [2005] [2005]
Percentage of adolescents who more days in the past 30 days 14 22 61 16 19 22
currently use any tobacco product,
Male [of total adolescent population] 18 27 67 19 22 29
age 13-15 [2005-2007]
Female [of total adolescent population] 9 15 55 9 14 14
Percentage of HIV prevalence among youth aged 15-24 0 0
HIV Prevalence among youth, age
Male 0 1 <0.1 <0.1 0 0 <0.1 <0.1 1 <0.1
15-24 [2009]
Female <0.1 2 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 0 <0.1 <0.1 1 <0.1
Percentage of youth 15-24 years old who correctly identify the two major ways of
HIV preventing the sexual transmission of HIV [using condoms and limiting sex to one
faithful, uninfected partner], who reject the two most common local misconceptions 34 11 7 8
HIV knowledge among youth, age about HIV transmission and who know that a healthy-looking person can be HIV-
15-24 [2005-2010] infected
Male 13 18 21 11
Female 13 9 5 16 3 13y 5 7 2y
Percentage of adolescents who felt Percentage of adolescents age 13 to 15 who felt lonely most of the time or always
16 8 15 12 16 17 14
lonely most of the time or always in the last 12 months
Mental Health
during the past 12 months, age 13-15 Male 16 6 10 7 12 14 12
[2005-2008] Female 15 10 19 17 20 20 17
Civic
Voting age Minimum legal age of suffrage 18 19 18 18 18 18 18 21 21 18 18 18 21 18 21 18 18 18 18
Engagement
Internet access in schools [2007] Scale of 1-7: 1=very limited, 7=pervasive [most students have frequent access] 2.7 4.4 3.1 4.2 3.5 3.8 4.8 3.5 1.8 4.9 5
[2011]
291
ICT Access to internet [2005] Internet users [per 1000 people] 120 520 20 170 10 349 370 230 50 330 90 200 340 310 100 170 270 650 20
[For ages
15-24]
Mobile/Celluar Phone users [2009] Mobile/cellular phone subscriptions per100 inhabitants 94 177 67 71 64 95 130 57 149 79 29 140 175 174 36 46 95 232 35
Facebook users [2011] Percentage of Facebook pentration 4 34 5 5 1 17 21 23 4 8 11 8 34 12 1 1 18 45 1
Youth’s perceived ability to pursue Percentage of youth [age 15 to 24] who report satisfaction with their freedom to
42 83 66 64 39 78 81 76 59 48 70 59 70 70 65 81 64
goals, age 15-24 choose what to do with their life
Value youth place on peer Percentage of 15 to 29 year olds who rate friends as ‹very important› or ‹rather
90.7 91.9 94 99.6
Attitudes & relationships, age 15-29 important›
Outlook Value youth place on inter- Percentage of 15 to 29 year olds who rate family as ‹very important› or ‹rather
99.7 99.7 99.1 99.6
generational relationships important›
Likelihood of migrating among Percentage of youth [15-24] who report being likely to move away from the city or
27 20 44 16 20 18 18 19 26 19 23 22 39 34 29 22 28
youth, age 15-24 area where they live in next year
y Data differs from the standard definition or only refers to a part of a country.
Adolescents Data Sheet References: z Data for school ending in 2006;
v Data for school year ending in 2007;
• Jordanian Department of Statistics (2011).Use of information technology in the home • UNESCO & World Bank (2012). UNESCO Institute of Statistics/ World Bank EdStats ø Data are from the latest available years
• Algerian National Office of Statistics (2010). Statistics. http://www.ons.dz/IMG/pdf/ 2011. http://www.dos.gov.jo Query. http://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/home.do?queryId=189 * National estimates
** Early school leaving measures the loss in potential earning due to lower educational attainment. The forgone earning are computed as the difference between total lifetime earning at
emploi_chomage_2010.pdf • Lebanese National Administration of Statistics (2009). National surveys in Lebanon • UNESCO (2010). EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010. http://www.unesco.org/new/ the current level
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2007). Global Youth Tobacco Survey. and MICS 3 2009. en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/efareport/reports/2010- # Data are collected for an age group other than 20 to 24
v The Gross Enrollment Ratio exceeds 100 when the number of secondary school students exceeds the number of students of official secondary school age
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/global/GYTS/intro.htm • Oman Ministry of Education (2012). Educational Indicators «2010/2011». Ministry of marginalization/ ^ This information reflects data available up to last year, No new information is available as of yet. There are plans to undertake a country-wide survey and this may result in changes in
the data made available during the previous regime.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2008). Global School-based Student Education, Oman. • UNESCO (2012). Statistics. http://stats.uis.unesco.org ~ Most of data reflect situation pre-secession
Health Survey. http://www.cdc.gov/gshs/countries/eastmediter/index.htm • Oman Ministry of Education (2012). The Annual Educational Statistics Book • UNFPA (2011). State of the World›s Population 2011. http://foweb.unfpa.org/SWP2011/ ∏ This information reflects data available up to last year, No new information is available as of yet
§ Body Mass Index (BMI) is a number calculated from a child›s weight and height. BMI is a reliable indicator of body fatness for most children and teens. The BMI number is plotted on
• Children’s Rights Fighters (2012). Minimum Legal Age of Suffrage. www.kraetzae.de/ «2011/2012». Ministry of Education, Oman. reports/EN-SWOP2011-FINAL.pdf. the CDC BMI-for-age growth charts (for either girls or boys) to obtain a percentile ranking. The percentile indicates the relative position of the child›s BMI number among children of the
same sex and age.
wahlrecht/international • Silatech (2009). The Silatech Index: Voices of Young Arabs. http://www.silatech.com/ • UNFPA (2012). State of The World Population 2011. http://www.unfpa.org/swp/
• Djibouti Direction Nationale de la Statistique (2009). Population and Housing media/pdf/20100302_silatech-report-poll.pdf • UNICEF (2006). Algeria - MICS 3 Final Report. http://www.childinfo.org/files/MICS3_
Census (PHC). • Statistics Center of Iran (2011). Selected Results of 2011 Labour Force Survey. http:// Algeria_FinalReport_2006_Fr.pdf
• Dubai School of Government (2011). Arab Social Media Report. www. www.amar.org.ir/Portals/0/Files/abstract/1390/ch_niru_sal90.pdf • UNICEF (2006). Syria – MICS3 Final Report. http://www.childinfo.org/files/MICS3_
arabsocialmediareport.com/ • Sudan Central Bureau of Statistics (2011). Demographic-Economic and Social Syria_FinalReport_2006_Eng.pdf
• Egypt CAPMAS (2006). Census Results 2006. http://www.censusinfo.capmas.gov.eg/ Indicators. www.cbs.gov.sd • UNICEF (2010). Child Poverty and Disparities in Egypt 2010.
• Egypt Ministry of Education (2012). Statistical Year Book 2010/2011. http://services. • Sudan Federal Ministry of Health (2012). Global AIDS Response Progress Report, • UNICEF (2011). MENA Gender Equality Profile. http://www.unicef.org/gender/
moe.gov.eg/books/10011/main_book2011.html 2010-2011. gender_62215.html
• Egypt Ministry of Health (2008). Egypt Demographic and Health Survey 2008 • The Moroccan Ministry of Health (2011). Enquête Nationale sur la Population et la • UNICEF (2011). Opportunities in Crisis: Preventing HIV from Early Adolescence to
• High Commission for Planning in Morocco (2012). Projections Démographiques du Santé Familiale (ENPSF) 2011. http://srvweb.sante.gov.ma/Documents/rapport.pdf Young Adulthood. UNICEF in partnership with UNAIDS, UNFPA and WHO. http://
HCP . http://www.hcp.ma/Projections-de-la-population-totale-par-groupe-d-age-et- • The Sudanese Ministry of Health and the Southern Sudan Center for Census, www.unicef.org/publications/files/Opportunity_in_Crisis-Report_EN_052711.pdf
sexe-en-milliers-et-au-milieu-de-l-annee-1960-2050_a676.html Statistics and Evaluation (2010). Sudan Household Health Survey II. • UNICEF (2012). Child Poverty Profiles. http://www.unicefglobalstudy.blogspot.com/
• ILO (2009). The Key Indicator of the Labour Market (KILM). http://kilm.ilo.org/ • UNAIDS (2012). IRI Progress Report on Monitoring of the United Nations General • UNICEF (2012). DEV Info. http://www.devinfo.org/
KILMnet/ Assembly Special Session on HIV and AIDS. http://www.unaids.org/en/dataanalysis/ • UNICEF (2012). Iraq - MICS4 Final Report.
• ILO, UNICEF & Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (2012). National Study on Worst knowyourresponse/countryprogressreports/2012countries/ce_IR_Narrative_Report. • UNICEF (2012). Statistics (Info by Country). http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/
Forms of Child Labour in Syria. http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/arpro/beirut/ pdf
• UNICEF (2012). The State Of The World’s Children. http://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/
downloads/publ/clsyria.pdf • UNDP (2010). Bahrain MDG Progress Report. http://www.undp.org.bh/Files/2010MDG
• United Nations Population Division (2010). World Population Prospects. http://esa.
• Iraq Central Statistics Office (2011). CSO Statistics Yearbook. Prog/2010MDGBHRPROGRESS.pdf
un.org/wpp/
State of Palestine
• Jordanian Department of Statistics (2009). Population Statistics. http://www.dos. • UNDP (2010). Sudan MDG Progress Report. http://www.sd.undp.org/doc/Sudan%20
• US Census Bureau (2010). http://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/
gov.jo MDGs%20Report%202010.pdf
region.php
• Jordanian Department of Statistics (2011). Employment Unemployment Survey 2011. • UNDP (2011). Human Development Report 2011. http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/
• World Bank (2012). http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR
http://www.dos.gov.jo global/hdr2011/
• Yemen CSO (2010). Statistical Year Book 2010.
• Jordanian Department of Statistics (2011). Estimated Population. http://www.dos. • UNDP (2012). Human Development Indicators. http://hdr.undp.org/en/data/profiles/
gov.jo • UNDP-POGAR (2005). Arab Statistics. www.arabstats.org
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