Many countries in the region had started their development programs a few decades ago, which reflects poorly on their economic and social achievements. From a human development point of view, these indicators prove that Arab countries still have a long way to go before reaching respectable levels of well-being. In science and technology, Arab performance remains weak. Scientific production is meager, rates of enrollment in universities are low, and hundreds of thousands of university-degree holders remain unemployed for long periods. Yet spending on education is relatively high, but the quality provided is poor.
Illiteracy rates remain very high in many Arab countries.
More than 65 million Arabs are presently illiterate. The percentage of the GDP allocated to research is one of the lowest in the world, and publications are scarce. This deprives the region from developing islands of excellence that would trigger faster economic development no matter how isolated they may be from the rest of their socio-economic environment. The lag is even more serious in the field of information technologies. The number of personal computers in the Arab region is only 20 per 1000 persons, while it is 200 in developed countries.