Tunisia

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Tunisia
flag_Tunisia.png
Flag of Tunisia
Population (In Millions) 10.55
Human Development Index 94/169
Gross Domestic Product (In USD Billions - World Bank) NA
Global Peace Index 44/153
Happy Planet Index 29/143
Social Institutions and Gender Index 22/86
Environmental Performance Index 74/163
Child Mortality Rate 13.8
More information on variables

Contents

Demographics

Tunisia has a population of 10,535,100 according to the World Bank 2010 data. [1]98% of Tunisians are Muslims, while about 1% follow Christianity and the remaining 1% adhere to Judaism. [2] The Tunisian population is characterized by a young age structure where 23.2% of the population is below 15 years of age. [3]

Tunisians are mainly of Berber origin. Arabic is the official language of the country and French is the second language. [4]

Multidimensional Poverty Index

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for Tunisia is 0.010. The MPI is an international measure of acute poverty covering 109 countries. The MPI reflects the multiple deprivations that poor people face at the same time in three dimensions: health, education and living standards. The MPI reflects both the incidence or headcount ratio (H) of poverty – the proportion of the population that is multidimensionally poor – and the average intensity (A) of their poverty – the average proportion of indicators in which poor people are deprived. More information on the MPI in Tunisia is available here.

UNDP Human Development Report Trends - 2010

The Human Development Index is a composite index measuring average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development- a long healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living; intended to capture the essential dimensions of the quality of human life or human development. According to the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report, Tunisia was ranked 81st out of 169 countries ranked in the world.

With an HDI of 0.683 in 2010, Tunisia's score is broken down as follows:

Health: 0.860 (life expectancy at birth of 74.3 years)

Education: 0.617 (mean years of schooling, 6.5)

Income: 0.599 (GNI per capita 2008 PPP US$ 8,509)[5]


Progress and the Arab Spring

The Arab Spring - a term that was inspired by Europe’s le Printemps des peuples or le Printemps des révolutions - refers to the wave of protests that started in Tunisia in December 2010 and expanded to other North-African and Middle-Eastern countries. Although the nature of the uprisings has varied from protests to revolution, all nations involved in the Spring are reacting to degrading socio-economic and political conditions in the MENA region.
Key nations involved in the Arab Spring include:

Protests of smaller sizes having media coverage also took place in Morocco, Algeria, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman & Kuwait. Many of the countries involved in the Arab Spring showed a steady increase in GDP over the last five to ten years while their well-being indices were decreasing.[6]

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With this respect, the Arab Human Development Report (2009) also highlights how the widespread absence of human security in Arab countries undermines people’s options. The report argues that security in the Arab countries is often threatened by unjust political, social, and economic structures; by competition for power and resources among fragmented social groups. [7]

See the 2009 Arab Human Development Report here.

For each nation involved in the Arab Spring, Wikiprogress is showcasing a number of key indices, inspired by the OECD Better Life Initiative – Compendium of Well-Being Indicators, to reflect a variety of dimensions of progress.
This Compendium represents one of the first attempts to respond to the demand for comparative information on the conditions of people's lives in developed market economies. Previous contributions in this field have focused on the conditions of poorer countries and on a more narrow range of dimensions (e.g. Human Development Index).[8]


Material living conditions

Income and wealth

According to the 2011 Global Peace Index (GPI), Tunisia’s GDP per capita is 3730 US$ [9]compared to 4204 US$ in 2010 TunisiaSparkline1.PNG, according to the World Bank data. [10]

According to the OECD’s 2008 African Economic Outlook, real GDP in Tunisia grew by 6.3% in 2007 and should progress by about 5.5% in 2008 and in 2009. This good performance, the report explains, is directly related to a recovery in agriculture and to a strong increase in investment and exports. The same source even predicted Tunisia’s ability to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. [11]

Also, the poverty rate declined from 12.9% in 1980 to 4.2% in 2000, then to 3.8% in 2005 TunisiaSparkline2.PNG, as a result of having pegged the poverty-reduction goal to economic growth.[12]

Jobs and earnings

In the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009, the country ranks first in Africa and 36th globally for economic competitiveness, well ahead of Portugal (43), Italy (49).[13] However, the unemployment rate has been unchangeable in the last four years. The World Bank database does not include data on unemployment in Tunisia. But, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace, as reported by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Tunisia’s unemployment rate has been 14% since 2007. [14]

The OECD’s 2008 African Economic Outlook explains the failure of the unemployment rate to decline as being essentially due to a much greater employment demand every year, estimated at 88 300 for 2008. [15]

According to the Tunisian Ministry of Labour, the number of unemployed newly university graduates increased by almost 10% in five years, going from 14.6% in 2005 to 23.3% in 2010 TunisiaSparkline3.PNG. [16]

Housing

While the OECD uses the number of rooms and dwellings with basic facilities as indicators to measure housing satisfaction, no similar indicators are used for developing countries. However, according to a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) report that came out in 1997, Tunisia has solved many of its housing problems, mainly related the spread of trash in unprivileged neighborhoods and the government’s monopoly of the housing sector. [17]

Their findings include the following:


Quality of life

Health status

Tunisia had a steady Life Expectancy between 2006 and 2009. It was always 74 years during that period, according to the 2009 World Bank database. [19]Total expenditures on health per capita is 524 US$ per capita as reported in 2009 by the Global Health Observatory. [20]

Work and life balance

Data has not been found on the time Tunisians devote to leisure and personal care. Data sources to help understand this topic are welcomed.

Education and skills

Tunisia ranked 17th in the category of “quality of the [higher] educational system" and 21st in the category of "quality of primary education" in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009. [21]The country’s literacy rate is 78% according to the World Bank 2008 data. [22]

However, public expenditures on education were decreasing. In 2011, they amounted to about 7.06 % of the Gross domestic product (GDP) according to the Global Peace Index, as reported from UNESCO compared to 6.9% in 2007 TunisiaSparkline5.PNG. [23]

Vocational training is largely widespread. According to the OECD’s 2008 African Economic Outlook, the number of graduates in approved training grew from 15 000 in 2001 to 27 500 in 2005, then to 31 000 in 2006 TunisiaSparkline6.PNG. By comparison, in the same year, about 10 000 students obtained their diploma from a private institution. Women represented 39.4 per cent of vocational training graduates in 2005, down from 54.8 per cent in 2000, because more women are now moving into higher education. [24]

Other figures:

Social connections

In 2010, the Arab Media Influence Report (AMIR I) reported that the number of Arab individuals reclaiming authority over their lives, freedom & liberty and trends in using social media is increasing. [28]In 2011, AMIR II reported that a huge growth in Social Media usage since AMIR I was a “catalyst” in the Arab Spring. Their findings included the following:

However, specific data on Tunisia has not been found on this subject. Data sources to help understand this topic are welcomed.

Civic engagement and governance

Democracy and transparency

According to the 2011 Global Peace Index data, Tunisia’s global peace rank is 44 out of 153 countries. [30]It was given a status of “Not Free” by the Freedom House since it is not an electoral democracy. According to their website, former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali exercised authoritarian rule since seizing power in a coup in 1987. Beginning in 1989, he won five consecutive five-year terms in tightly controlled elections. [31]

Tunisia had a very low Political Participation ranking of 2.22/10 as reported by the EIU Democracy Index and a high Level of Disrespect to Human Rights ranking of 3.0/5.0, according to the Global Peace Index report. [32]

In its 2011 report on Tunisia, Amnesty International reported that the authorities continued to arrest, detain and try people on security-related charges, including some who were forcibly returned to Tunisia from other states. According to reports, around 2,000 people have been convicted of offences under the anti-terrorism law since 2003, including many who were tried and sentenced in their absence in trials that often failed to meet international fair trial standards.[33]

According to Transparency International’s 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index [The Corruption Perception Index draws on multiple expert opinion surveys that poll perceptions of public sector corruption scoring countries on a scale from 0 - 10, with 0 indicating high levels of perceived corruption and 10 indicating low levels of perceived corruption],” Tunisia scores 4.3/10, making it a highly corrupt country.[34]

Civil Society

The Freedom House gives Tunisia a score of 3.1 out of 5 based on its Political Rights and Civic Voice Indicator. [35]According the Amnesty International 2011 report on Tunisia, the authorities maintained tight restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly, and government critics continued to be harassed, threatened and imprisoned. [36]

The authorities maintained tight control over the media and the internet. Those who openly criticized the government or exposed its human rights violations continued to be harassed, placed under intensive surveillance, unjustly prosecuted, and physically assaulted. Independent human rights organizations faced difficulties in holding public events, renting venues for events, or had their events subjected to a heavy security presence. . [37]

When it comes to women rights, according to a special report on women in the Middle-East, conducted by the Freedom House, Under current legislation, women benefit from the same rights as men concerning economic matters. They have the right to own property, and once they reach adulthood at the age of 18, they can open a bank account, take out a loan, and enter freely into business and financial contracts and transactions. In practice, however, women remain underrepresented in the workforce and face gender-based salary inequity and obstacles in career advancement, notably in the private sector. [38]

See the Gender Equality in Tunisia page on Wikigender.

Environmental quality

According to the World Bank data,Tunisia’s CO2 emissions (kt) have increased between 2006 and 2007 to reach 23,849kt in 2007 making air highly polluted TunisiaSparkline3.PNG. [39]

Personal security

According to the Global Peace Index, the number of homicides per 10,000 people in Tunisia is 13, and the number of internal security officers and police per the same portion of population is 2. [40]However, no national or international statistics were found on the number of intentional homicides or self-reported victimisation, the two being the indicators OECD uses to measure personal security in OECD countries.

In 2009, the Arab Human Development Report (AHDR), a wide study on security in the Arab World as a whole, argues that the trend in the region has been to focus more on the security of the state than on the security of the people. [41]It also draws attention to a multitude of threats which cut across different aspects of human development in the region, highlighting the need for an integrated approach to advancing development, security, good governance and human rights. [42]

However, specific data on Tunisia was not found. Data sources to help understand this topic are welcomed.

Subjective well-being

According to the Gallup Centre, indices related to well-being have, in general, shown a sharp decline in the last five years. [43]Specific data on Tunisia with respect to subjective well-being was not found. Data sources to help understand this topic are welcomed.


Official Statistics

National Statistics Institute

Happiness in Tunisia

This is an overview of findings on Happiness in Tunisia.The available findings are presented in the latest ‘Nation Report’ on Tunisia. This report is ordered by type of happiness questions and within these types by year. This ordering is to facilitate the assessment of progress, comparison over time being most fruitful using the same questions.
The report presents means and standard deviations, both on the original scale range and transformed to a common range 0-10. The means inform about the level of happiness in the country and the standard deviations about inequality of happiness.
Links provide more detail about the precise text of the question, the full distribution of responses and technical details of the survey. The report is continuously updated.

See also


Further reading

References

  1. ↑ World Bank Data (2010), World Bank, Washington DC, USA. Full data available here
  2. ↑ CIA World Factbook – Tunisia (2011). Full Tunisia page here
  3. ↑ World Bank Data (2010), World Bank, Washington DC, USA. Full data available here
  4. ↑ CIA World Factbook – Tunisia (2011). Full Tunisia page here
  5. ↑ United Nations Development Programme. International Human Development Indicators - UNDP. 2010. http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/TUN.html (accessed March 9, 2011).
  6. ↑ Clifton J. and Morales L. (2011), Egyptians', Tunisians' Wellbeing Plummets Despite GDP Gains: Traditional economic indicators paint an incomplete picture of life in these countries, The Gallup Centre, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Full article here
  7. ↑ UNDP (2009), Arab Human Development Report: Challenges to Human Security in the Arab Countries, New York, USA. Full report available here
  8. ↑ The OECD Better Life Initiative: Compendium of OECD Better Life Initiatives (2011), OECD, Paris, France. Full report here
  9. ↑ Global Peace Index Report (2011), Institute for Economics and Peace, New York, USA. Full report available here
  10. ↑ World Bank Data (2010), World Bank, Washington DC, USA. Full data available here
  11. ↑ Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (2008), African Economic Outlook 2008 – Tunisia Section, Paris, France. Full section on Tunisia available here
  12. ↑ Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (2008), African Economic Outlook 2008 – Tunisia Section, Paris, France. Full section on Tunisia available here
  13. ↑ The World Economic Forum (2009), The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-09, Geneva, Switzerland. Full report available here
  14. ↑ Global Peace Index Report (2011), Institute for Economics and Peace, New York, USA. Full report available here
  15. ↑ Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (2008), African Economic Outlook 2008 – Tunisia Section, Paris, France. Full section on Tunisia available here
  16. ↑ Tunisian Ministry of labour (2010), Statistics – Rate of unemployed newlt graduates, National study on unemployment, Tunis, Tunisia. Full data available here
  17. ↑ Lippe M. (1997), USAID'S Housing and Urban Programs in Tunisia: 1996-1997, United States Agency for International Development, Washington DC, USA. Full report available here
  18. ↑ Lippe M. (1997), USAID'S Housing and Urban Programs in Tunisia: 1996-1997, United States Agency for International Development, Washington DC, USA. Full report available here
  19. ↑ World Bank Data (2010), World Bank, Washington DC, USA. Full data available here
  20. ↑ WHO Global Health Observatory (2009), WHO Representation, Tunis, Tunisia. Full Tunisia page here
  21. ↑ The World Economic Forum (2009), The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-09, Geneva, Switzerland. Full report available here
  22. ↑ World Bank Data (2010), World Bank, Washington DC, USA. Full data available here
  23. ↑ Global Peace Index Report (2011), Institute for Economics and Peace, New York, USA. Full report available here
  24. ↑ Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (2008), African Economic Outlook 2008 – Tunisia Section, Paris, France. Full section on Tunisia available here
  25. ↑ Global Peace Index Report (2011), Institute for Economics and Peace, New York, USA. Full report available here
  26. ↑ World Bank Data (2010), World Bank, Washington DC, USA. Full data available here
  27. ↑ Global Peace Index Report (2011), Institute for Economics and Peace, New York, USA. Full report available here
  28. ↑ Al Tarzi F. (2011), Arab Media Influence Report II, News Group International, UAE. Full report available here
  29. ↑ Al Tarzi F. (2011), Arab Media Influence Report II, News Group International, UAE. Full report available here
  30. ↑ Global Peace Index Report (2011), Institute for Economics and Peace, New York, USA. Full report available here
  31. ↑ Map of Freedom in the World 2011 (2011), The Freedom House – Tunisia Country Report, Washington DC, USA. Full report available here
  32. ↑ Global Peace Index Report (2011), Institute for Economics and Peace, New York, USA. Full report available here
  33. ↑ Amnesty International (2011), Annual Report 2011: the state of the world’s human rights – Tunisia special country report, London, United Kingdom. Full report available here
  34. ↑ Global Peace Index Report (2011), Institute for Economics and Peace, New York, USA. Full report available here
  35. ↑ Ben Salem L. (2010), Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa - A special report on Tunisia, The Freedom House, Washington DC, USA. Full report available here
  36. ↑ Amnesty International (2011), Annual Report 2011: the state of the world’s human rights – Tunisia special country report, London, United Kingdom. Full report available here
  37. ↑ Amnesty International (2011), Annual Report 2011: the state of the world’s human rights – Tunisia special country report, London, United Kingdom. Full report available here
  38. ↑ Ben Salem L. (2010), Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa - A special report on Tunisia, The Freedom House, Washington DC, USA. Full report available here
  39. ↑ World Bank Data (2010), World Bank, Washington DC, USA. Full data available here
  40. ↑ Global Peace Index Report (2011), Institute for Economics and Peace, New York, USA. Full report available here
  41. ↑ UNDP (2009), Arab Human Development Reprot: Challenges to Human Security in the Arab Countries, New York, USA. Full report available here
  42. ↑ UNDP (2009), Arab Human Development Report: Challenges to Human Security in the Arab Countries, New York, USA. Full report available here
  43. ↑ Clifton J. and Morales L. (2011), Egyptians', Tunisians' Wellbeing Plummets Despite GDP Gains: Traditional economic indicators paint an incomplete picture of life in these countries, The Gallup Centre, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Full article available here
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