Activation Policies for the Poor in OIC Member States
24
the other hand, over 60% of the population is aged 15-64. This means that Bangladesh and the
Kyrgyz Republic have older populations than many lower-middle income Member States, such as
Cameroon, Palestine, and Senegal. All upper-middle income Member States, however, have a
population where over 60% is aged 15-64, with the exception of Gabon and Iraq. In each high
income Member State, over 70% of the population is aged 15-64, with the exception of Saudi Arabia,
where the figure stood at 68% in 2013. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have the oldest
populations, with 85.36% and 84.29% of their respective populations aged 15-64.10
Member States’ income groupings naturally give an indication as to the poverty levels in those
countries. However, there is also significant variation in terms of GDP per capita within income
groupings. The Member States with the highest GDP per capita within an income grouping tend to
have GDP per capita three to four times that of the Member State within the same income grouping
with the lowest GDP per capita. Poverty rates also vary significantly within each grouping. Based on
the international poverty line of US$1.25 per day, the lower-middle income Member States of
Palestine, Syria, Morocco and Egypt have a poverty headcount ratio of 2.5% (similar to many upper-
middle income Member States’ poverty headcount ratios of between 1% and 2%) whereas Nigeria
has a poverty headcount ratio higher than 65%.11 Each low income Member State, with the exception
of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic, has a poverty ratio higher than 25%. However, these figures
are based on the international poverty line. If national poverty thresholds are taken into account, the
poverty ratio for these two countries increases to 47.2% for Tajikistan and 38% for the Kyrgyz
Republic.12
The fact that national poverty lines show higher poverty headcount ratios shows that poverty
remains an issue to address as countries develop economically. If economic development is to
benefit all of society, inequalities must be addressed. Evidence indicates that in low and lower-
middle income Member States, initial economic developments are enjoyed by wide sections of
society. Depending on the development path pursued, however, it is possible for later economic
growth to benefit only particular sections of society, such as the elite. Low poverty and relatively
equal income distributions characterised Arab economies in the 1970s and 80s, for example. Since
then, however, opinion polls have indicated that more recent economic growth has not benefited the
wider population.13
As well as poverty rates and demography, unemployment rates vary considerably between OIC
Member States, as shown in Figure 2.
10 SESRIC, BASEIND Report 2013
11 COMCEC, Poverty Outlook 2014, available at:
12 World Bank Databank
13 AfDB (2012)