Page 63 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

Think Again: Addressing Misconceptions about the GCC 47

average, almost $30,000, was about 50 percent higher than the GCC.
Japan’s was higher even than that of the EU—$33,100. In fact, the
GDP per capita for the entire GCC was roughly that of Portugal, the
poorest Western European country. Saudi Arabia, in the popular
imagination a land full of oil-rich sheikhs, had a GDP per capita
under $14,000—half the EU average and broadly similar to Eastern
Europe’s.
Figure 2.2 compares the Gulf’s GDP per capita with other
regions and nations, showing it to be far below the world’s
most developed economies and much higher than those of China
and India.

Figure 2.2 GCC GDP per capita is half US level, but five times India’s
(Source: EIU, CIA World Factbook, 2007)

Multinationals that consider these figures can tailor their prod-
uct mix and service levels more appropriately. Certainly, the GCC