Muscat: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have emerged as a leading regional and international model in social protection, successfully combining social justice with economic efficiency, according to new data released by the Statistical Center of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.
The report, titled “The Reality and Policies of Social Protection in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries,” highlights that all GCC states fall within the “very high human development” category in the Human Development Index 2025. This reflects strong performance in health, education and overall quality of life. GCC countries also exceed the global average in the Social Progress Index 2025, reinforcing their leadership in advancing human well-being and inclusive growth.
Economically, the Gulf continues to demonstrate strong fundamentals. Average per capita GDP in GCC countries in 2024 stood at nearly three times the global average, while all member states ranked among the top six in the Global Competitiveness Index at the regional level for West Asia and Africa. This economic strength has enabled governments to finance broad social protection systems supported by relatively high public spending.
According to the report, 100 percent of the population in GCC countries has access to education, healthcare, clean water and electricity, an achievement that reflects the depth of social policies and the efficiency of service infrastructure. Government spending on social protection accounted for between 19.2 percent and 22.9 percent of total government expenditure in 2022, demonstrating that investment in people is viewed not as a fiscal burden, but as a catalyst for economic growth and social stability.
The GCC’s social protection frameworks span the entire life cycle. Child registration rates for those under five have reached 100 percent, compared to a global average of 77.2 percent. During working age, citizens benefit from insurance schemes covering unemployment, workplace injuries, and maternity and paternity leave. In old age, mandatory pension systems provide generous benefits, with retirement replacement rates in some countries reaching up to 100 percent of contributory salaries.
The scale of these systems is significant. More than 15 million people are insured under GCC pension schemes, while the number of retirees exceeds 985,000, alongside over 497,000 beneficiary heirs. Total annual insurance benefits surpass US$31 billion, highlighting the substantial economic and social impact of these programmes.
The report also points to the extension of insurance protection across borders as a major outcome of Gulf integration. In 2023, around 34,000 GCC citizens were covered by retirement and social security systems in member states other than their home countries, an increase of more than 330 percent compared to 2007, demonstrating the success of the Gulf Common Market in strengthening citizens’ social rights.
Despite these achievements, the report identifies challenges ahead, including demographic shifts, ensuring long-term financial sustainability, addressing coverage gaps for certain groups, improving benefit adequacy, and strengthening institutional coordination and data integration. To address these issues, it recommends developing more comprehensive and sustainable systems, diversifying funding sources, and establishing a unified GCC-level information system to support impact assessment and evidence-based policymaking.