Qatar

QATAR IS ONE OF THE Persian Gulf states, meaning it depends on exporting oil as a major source of gaining hard currency. Industrialization has a limited share of the Gross National Product of Qatar and oil revenues make the living standard high, especially among nationals. On the other hand, some poor among expatriates live in bad conditions, as a wide gap in the standard of living exists between the nationals and noncitizens in Qatar.

The poverty status in Qatar is related to the large number of foreign laborers, reflecting the status of poverty in some Asian countries that send their labor to the Gulf states, such as Qatar. The first survey on poverty in Qatar was conducted in 2005. Studies revealed that Gross Domestic Product per capita annual income was $23,000, nearing the level of many western European countries. Earnings versus the affordable essentials, using prices that prevailed in the local market in 2001–02, showed that technically there are no poor people in Qatar.

Another study on poverty conducted by the National Planning Council (NPC) in 2005 found that five to nine percent of expatriates in Qatar live in poverty-like conditions. The survey also found that no Qataris live below the poverty line, although 3.3 percent were found surviving with little more than what was set by the international poverty standards. However, according to data provided by the Zakat Poor-Due Fund, the number of families applying for Zakat Poor-Due has increased threefold over the last four years, and in 2004, 2,500 families were found to be needy.

According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Qatar has been ruled by the Al Thani family since the mid-1800s, and “transformed itself from a poor British protectorate noted mainly for pearling into an independent state with significant oil and natural gas revenues. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Qatari economy was crippled by a continuous siphoning off of petroleum revenues by the emir, who had ruled the country since 1972. His son, the Amir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, overthrew him in a bloodless coup in 1995. In 2001, Qatar resolved its longstanding border disputes with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Oil and natural gas revenues enable Qatar to have one of the highest per capita incomes in the world.”

Human Development Index Rank: 40

Human Poverty Index Rank: 10