Economic Inequality in the Arab Region

The analysis finds moderate inequality levels, with Gini coefficient for the distribution of per capita total expenditures ranging between 30.7 in Libya and 45 in Mauritania. Differences in households' endowments such as demographic composition, human capital, and community characteristics appear as the main sources of the urban-rural welfare gap. Inequality between metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions is resulting mainly from differences in returns to human capital.