A new report from the UN Development Program has reported that Yemen,
which came into the Saudi invasion as the poorest country in the Middle
East, has been set back more than 20 years by the current war.
The economic losses caused so far are around $88.8 billion, and that’s just assuming the war ends now. If it lasts until 2030, they estimate losses of $657 billion, and 84 percent of the population chronically malnourished.
Yemen’s extreme poverty made it easy to underestimate just how far and
fast they could fall economically in such a bloody war. The report
concluded that even with immediate peace, it would take decades just to
get Yemen back to the impoverished ex-ante situation.
Which is not great, but a lot better than what Yemen is now, with its
food shortages and outbreaks of cholera. Even when they’re back where
they were, trying to catch up on the lost time to grow and modernize is
another matter.
UN Report: War Has Set Back Yemen More Than 20 Years
War has already caused economic losses of $88.8 billion
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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