Socioeconomic Conditions:

• The Human Development Index (HDI) (composite index measuring a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living).
• Sub-indices within the HDI: The Education Index and The Gender Inequality Index.
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita.
• Size of Economy.
• GNI per capita and percent growth in GDP per capita.
• Economic Complexity Atlas.
• The Economist reports on the Middle East and North Africa.

Political Situation:

• CIA World Factbook: Type of government (autocracy or monarchy), significance of oil reserves, number of political parties. permitted in each country, nature of the countries’ legislative bodies (elected or appointed).
• Freedom House country rating: civil liberties, political rights, and overall freedom.
• 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International.
• 2016 Global Peace Index Score from the Institute for Economics and Peace.
• 10 Years of Arab Youth Survey: A Decade of Hopes and Fears.
• Arab Barometer: Insight on social, political, and economic attitudes and values across the Arab world.

Technological Connectivity:

• Internet users (per 100 people) (World Bank).
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) (World Bank).
• Internet users, percent population penetration, and Facebook statistics (Internet World Stats).
• Internet and Smart Phone use by age, Pew Research Center report  (only available for Palestine, Jordan, and Israel).

Impact of Civil Society:

• The number of newspapers as listed on Arabic Media website.
• Civil Society Impact. 
• Arab Barometer.

• Civil Society Organization Sustainability Index for the Middle East and North Africa

Economic Reporting Tools:

• Doing Business Report (World Bank).
• Women, Business and the Law (a new report that tracks data on laws and regulations constraining women’s employment and entrepreneurship) (World Bank).
• Index of Economic Freedom (Heritage Foundation).
• Women at Work Trends 2016 (International Labour Office) (PDF 4,947 KB).
• The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) provides country, risk and industry analysis, across 200 countries worldwide.