Middle East Economies 1980 vs 2026

por Writersroom Boardwalk: Middle East

The Middle East's biggest economies in 1980 started with Saudi Arabia at $164.5B, Iran at $94.4B, Türkiye at $68.8B, Iraq at $52.6B, UAE at $43.6B, Kuwait at $28.6B, Israel at $25.4B, Egypt at $21.7B, Syria at $13.1B, and Qatar estimated between $7-8B. Fast forward to projected 2026 numbers where the rankings shift entirely: Türkiye jumps to $1.64T, Saudi Arabia follows at $1.39T, Israel lands at $719.9B, UAE at $621.6B, Egypt at $429.7B, Iran at $300.3B, Iraq at $264.8B, Qatar at $217.4B, Kuwait around $172.9B, and Oman enters the top ten at $117.2B. These figures compare historical data against future projections sourced from IMF World Economic Outlook (April 2026), World Bank & other Web sources.