Dubai, May 02: Buoyed by high crude prices, Qatar and the UAE continued to enjoy the status of being wealthiest Arab nations with a per capita income recorded at 30,800 dollars and 19,763 dollars last year respectively. UAE's per capita income was more than twice that of Saudi Arabia even as it has recorded the highest population growth rates over the past 15 years, according to the ministry of planning and central bank.

Saudi Arabia had a per capita income of just USD 8,053 last year, compared with more than $14,000 during the oil boom of late 1970s and early 1980s. A large gap also exists with other Gulf countries, having the per capita income standing at USD 14,597 in Kuwait, USD 11,374 in Bahrain, and $7,933 in Oman, the ministry said.

The gap is sharply wider compared with Arab nations outside the Gulf, with the income standing at as low as USD 334 in Mauritania, USD 443 in Sudan and USD 508 in Yemen. The figures released by the ministry showed the UAE's gross domestic product peaked at dh293.1 billion (USD 79.8 billion) last year while its population leaped by more than seven times to nearly 4.041 million.

Net national income also hit a record $65.1 billion while national savings were as high as $13.3 billion. The per capita income relative to the net national income was put at USD 16,130, one of the highest in the world.

Economists said the per capita income remained high in the UAE because of a surge in crude prices and its oil production over the past years and an upturn in other sectors. Bureau Report