Data Transparency in the Middle East and North Africa

Data transparency about critical economic issues may be key to driving growth and enhancingtrust in government in the Middle East and North Africa. Several knowledge products and technical analyses on theregion have been greatly constrained by the lack of availability of detailed data, and the relatively outdatednature of many available datasets. The goal of this study is to ascertain the state of data systems in the Middle Eastand North Africa region. Through analysis of several indicators, with their limitations in mind, the study usesdescriptive analyses and uncovers six stylized facts of the region: (i) developing economies in the Middle East andNorth Africa have poor data ecosystems, largely due to the prevalence of conflict; (ii) developing economies in theMiddle East and North Africa as a group have experienced the largest deterioration in data systems over time; (iii) datasystems in richer economies in the Middle East and North Africa region underperform relative to their income peers;(iv) Gulf Cooperation Council economies underperform in data openness, especially online access, despite having theresources for online features; (v) the regulatory framework for data (data infrastructure) is poor throughout theregion, especially in Gulf Cooperation Council economies; and (vi) the dispersion of source data scores – a measure ofavailability and timeliness of micro data – in the region suggests that national statistical offices in the regioncould learn from each other. Furthermore, the study summarizes data availability and timeliness for specificmacro, micro, and public health indicators for countries across the region. The need for forging a social contractfor data is discussed, as well as the role international institutions can play through a statistics compact for the region.