Demographics of the Middle East

Encyclopedia Britannica definition of Middle East

Encyclopedia Britannica stated in 2018 that "by the mid-20th century a common definition of the Middle East encompassed the states or territories of Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, and the various states and territories of Arabia proper (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States, or Trucial Oman [now United Arab Emirates])."^[2]

List of countries by life expectancy at birth for 2023 according to the World Bank Group:^[3][4][5]

More information Countries and territories, Historical data ...

World Bank Group (2023)

Countries and territories	2023				Historical data											recovery from COVID-19: 2019→2023
	All	Male	Female	Sex gap	2014	2014 →2019	2019	2019 →2020	2020	2020 →2021	2021	2021 →2022	2022	2022 →2023	2023
Israel	83.20	81.00	85.50	4.50	82.15	0.65	82.80	−0.16	82.65	−0.15	82.50	0.20	82.70	0.50	83.20	0.39
Kuwait	83.19	82.70	83.70	1.00	79.08	2.89	81.97	−3.21	78.76	−0.02	78.74	1.85	80.59	2.60	83.19	1.22
United Arab Emirates	82.91	81.98	84.20	2.23	81.99	0.61	82.60	−0.66	81.94	−2.85	79.08	1.40	80.49	2.42	82.91	0.31
Qatar	82.37	81.61	83.37	1.76	81.39	1.55	82.94	−2.54	80.41	0.67	81.08	0.77	81.86	0.51	82.37	−0.58
Cyprus	81.65	79.64	83.67	4.03	81.34	0.12	81.45	−0.22	81.23	−0.66	80.57	−0.14	80.43	1.21	81.65	0.19
Bahrain	81.28	80.67	81.99	1.31	80.21	0.26	80.47	−1.79	78.68	−0.60	78.08	2.91	80.99	0.29	81.28	0.81
Oman	80.03	78.49	81.88	3.39	79.03	0.92	79.95	−2.18	77.76	−1.79	75.97	1.94	77.91	2.12	80.03	0.09
Saudi Arabia	78.73	77.10	81.16	4.06	77.12	1.20	78.31	−0.72	77.60	−0.51	77.09	0.22	77.31	1.42	78.73	0.42
Lebanon	77.82	75.74	79.73	3.99	78.15	0.06	78.21	−1.91	76.30	−2.65	73.65	4.35	78.00	−0.19	77.82	−0.39
Jordan	77.81	75.71	80.19	4.48	74.61	2.26	76.86	−1.28	75.58	−1.38	74.20	2.88	77.09	0.73	77.81	0.95
Iran	77.65	75.79	79.63	3.84	75.64	1.22	76.86	−2.71	74.14	−0.39	73.75	3.05	76.80	0.85	77.65	0.80
Turkey	77.16	74.53	79.86	5.33	76.45	1.28	77.74	−1.21	76.53	−0.80	75.72	1.87	77.59	−0.43	77.16	−0.58
World	73.33	70.95	75.84	4.89	71.78	1.09	72.87	−0.68	72.18	−0.97	71.22	1.75	72.97	0.36	73.33	0.46
Iraq	72.32	70.43	74.06	3.63	69.68	1.57	71.25	−1.59	69.65	1.05	70.70	1.33	72.04	0.29	72.32	1.08
Syria	72.12	69.83	74.41	4.58	65.49	5.48	70.97	0.97	71.94	0.47	72.42	0.37	72.79	−0.67	72.12	1.15
Egypt	71.63	69.49	73.81	4.32	69.91	1.30	71.21	−1.42	69.79	−0.81	68.98	2.03	71.01	0.62	71.63	0.42
Yemen	69.30	67.23	71.39	4.15	68.00	−1.44	66.57	−0.13	66.44	−0.42	66.02	1.93	67.95	1.34	69.30	2.73
Palestine	65.17	59.69	71.50	11.81	72.78	3.03	75.81	−0.81	75.00	−1.11	73.89	2.77	76.66	−11.49	65.17	−10.64

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Change in life expectancy in the Middle East from 2019 to 2021^[3]

In the year 1600, the population of the Middle East stood at about 18.5 million. Within modern borders:^[6]

• Anatolia - c. 6,500,000^[7]
• Iran - 4,472,000
• Yemen - 2,243,000
• Saudi Arabia - 1,809,000
• Syria - 1,175,000
• Iraq - 1,000,000
• Lebanon - 292,000
• Oman - 275,000
• Jordan - 191,000
• Palestine- 161,000
• Cyprus - 98,000
• Kuwait - 71,000
• Bahrain - 54,000
• United Arab Emirates - 35,000

In addition, the population of North Africa was 12 million, with the following breakdown within borders:

• Egypt - 5,000,000
• Algeria - 2,250,000
• Morocco - 2,250,000
• Tunisia - 2,000,000
• Libya - 500,000

• Demographics of the Arab League
• Demographics of the Middle East and North Africa
• Ethnic groups in the Middle East
• Genetic history of the Middle East
• Largest metropolitan areas of the Middle East
• List of Middle Eastern countries by population