- MENA 2026
- Annex B
Data appendix
The indicator set with its sources, the source registers, the licences of every kind of material and the formats of the edition.
Contents
- ·Edition home
- ·Executive summary
- 1MENA’s risk is carried by power, water and one export route
- 2Key findings
- 3Systems and sectors at baseline
- 4Risks and capability
- 5Hot season with peak desalination load and a disrupted export route
- 6Readings from the other desks
- 7The 2027 agenda
- 8Systems in depth
- AMethodology
- BData appendix
- CReferences and record
- ·Complete edition, for print
B.1The indicator set
| Indicator | Value | Unit | Year | State | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi population | 35.3 | million | 2024 | Reported | 2 |
| Emirati population | 11.3 | million | 2024 | Reported | 3 |
| Saudi population, World Bank series | 37.0 | million | 2025 | Reported | 1 |
| Emirati population, World Bank series | 11.5 | million | 2025 | Reported | 1 |
| Combined members’ population | 48.5 | million | 2025 | Estimated | 1 |
| Saudi emissions excluding land use | 838.9 | Mt CO₂e | 2024 | Reported | 5 |
| Emirati emissions excluding land use | 264.1 | Mt CO₂e | 2024 | Reported | 5 |
| Saudi share of members’ emissions | 76.1 | % | 2024 | Estimated | 5 |
| Saudi fossil share of electricity | 98.5 | % | 2024 | Reported | 7 |
| Emirati fossil share of electricity | 70.1 | % | 2024 | Reported | 7 |
| Saudi renewable capacity | 12,332 | MW | 2025 | Reported | 9 |
| Emirati renewable capacity added | 1,054 | MW | 2025 | Reported | 10 |
| Saudi renewable freshwater per person | 74.6 | m³ | 2022 | Reported | 11 |
| Emirati renewable freshwater per person | 14.9 | m³ | 2022 | Reported | 11 |
| Saudi desalinated share of distributed water | 50 | % | 2023 | Reported | 14 |
| Real GDP change, 2026, both members | Not bound | % | n/a | NOT BOUND | 35 |
| Emirati desalination share of supply | Not bound | % | n/a | NOT BOUND | 53 |
| Groundwater storage change | Not bound | km³ | n/a | NOT BOUND | 51 |
| Damage to energy and water assets, 2026 | Not bound | US$ | n/a | NOT BOUND | 34 |
B.2Regional source register
The governed source set behind this edition. Each source keeps its authority, coverage, cadence and role; categories describe origin, not truth.
Domains bound by the register
- WAT
- ENE
- FOO
- HLT
- BIO
- CLI
- INF
- FIN
- TRD
- MIN
| Source | Category | Coverage | Period | Cadence | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population1234 | international and national statistics | members | 2024–2025 | annual | profile |
| Emissions56 | international statistics | members | 2024 | annual | CLI |
| Electricity782737 | international statistics | members | 2021–2024 | annual | ENE |
| Renewable capacity91043 | agency and press | members | 2025 | annual | ENE |
| Water1112131415 | international and national statistics | members | 2022–2024 | annual | WAT |
| Food and land161718 | international statistics | members | 2023–2025 | annual | FOO |
| Climate and health192021 | agency assessment and press | members and Asia | 2023–2024 | annual | CLI, HLT |
| Economy and projections, post-close, context only293031323334 | IMF and World Bank | members and Gulf | 2025–2027 | half-yearly | FIN |
| Events3536 | press reports | Gulf | 2026 | one-off | TRD, INF |
| Reference group38 | international statistics | MENAAP aggregate | 2021–2025 | annual | reference |
B.3Regional reading: MENA by member country
Map plates for every member country follow in Q2 2027, when boundary sources and public-safe resolutions are bound. This page gives the regional reading in table form for the 2 member countries named in the series registry.
Selected indicators235
Saudi Arabia, 2024
United Arab Emirates, 2024
Saudi emissions, 2024
Emirati emissions, 2024
| Member | Principal hazards | Systems most exposed | Baseline evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | heat during the 2024 Hajj19; export route loss in 202635 | health, energy, finance | population 35.3 million; emissions 838.9 Mt; fossil electricity 98.5%257 |
| United Arab Emirates | record rain in 202420; Fujairah fire in March 202636 | infrastructure, energy, finance | population 11.3 million; emissions 264.1 Mt; fossil electricity 70.1%357 |
B.4Atlas card: Gulf coast and Strait of Hormuz
- coast and strait
- shared export and desalination corridor
- power, water and trade
- members: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
- Systems in view
- water, energy and trade
- Defining instruments
- no treaty read at baseline
- Couplings
- TRD → ENE → FIN; ENE → WAT
- Capability evidence
- a Gulf grid interconnection authority is listed52; performance not bound
- Gaps
- transit volumes, bypass throughput, desalination output and asset damage
- Agenda items
- A-02
About one fifth of world oil and LNG passes the Strait of Hormuz, and about 150 ships were stranded in early March 2026 [35]. Current transit volumes are not bound.
TRADE
One narrow strait
Source: Saudi Water Authority and emirate utilities. Blocker: not retrieved at evidence close.
WATER
Desalination on the coast
A fire broke out at the Fujairah hub on 3 March 2026 from falling drone debris [36]. Damage assessments are not bound.
ENERGY
Energy hubs
B.5MENA system card
The card through which MENA appears in the global edition and in the sector series. It summarises; it does not rank.
| System | Baseline state | Coupling to watch | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water | renewable freshwater 74.6 and 14.9 m³ per resident11 | desalination and stored groundwater | PARTIAL |
| Energy | fossil 98.5% and 70.1% of electricity7 | asset damage; export route | PARTIAL |
| Food | food 12.3% of Saudi imports16 | port and price shocks | THIN |
| Health | 1,301 Hajj deaths reported19 | heat load on services | THIN |
| Biodiversity | no series read | condition not bound | THIN |
Context
- Archetype
- two fuel-exporting members sharing a coast, an export route and a hot climate
- Population
- 35.3 million in Saudi Arabia and 11.3 million in the United Arab Emirates, 202423
- Trade
- fuel 78.7% of Saudi merchandise exports in 202522
- Hazard
- heat, and a strait declared closed in March 20261935
The member editions (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates) and this regional edition share finding identifiers where they read the same evidence, so a correction travels to every edition at once.
MEMBER EDITIONS
Same findings, same IDs
MENA evidence enters the water, energy, food, finance and climate sector reports through the same finding identifiers.
GLOBAL SECTOR SERIES
Regional evidence, sector reports
In the global edition MENA is read against peer distributions and thresholds, never placed in a league table.
GLOBAL FLAGSHIP
Peers, not ranks
B.6Licences
| Material | Licence |
|---|---|
| Text | CC BY 4.0 |
| Data | on the licence of each source; Nexus tables CC BY 4.0 |
| Figures | Nexus figures CC BY 4.0; third-party as credited |
| Maps | boundary source and licence printed on each plate |
| Metadata | CC0 1.0, as Zenodo publishes it |
| Third-party data, figures and text | The source’s own licence, credited where it is used; never relicensed |
| Nexus-authored text, tables and figures: CC BY 4.0 (SPDX CC-BY-4.0). Map plates print their boundary source and licence. | |
B.7Formats and provenance
| Format | Kind | State | What it is | Identifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web edition | HTML | On this site | Draft in stewardship review; every value resolves to its source. | NR-REGIONAL-MEN-2026-BASELINE-v1.0.0 |
| Print edition | At release | A4 portrait · screen, print and archival PDF, signed with the web edition at release. | NR-REGIONAL-MEN-2026-BASELINE-v1.0.0 | |
| Indicator data | CSV · JSON | On this site | 19 indicators with unit, year, status and source; the machine-readable copy ships with the evidence bundle at release. | NR-REGIONAL-MEN-2026-BASELINE data release v1 |
| Figures | SVG · PNG | On this site | 4 on the web edition: headline figure, figure 1.3, coupling instrument, capability ladder. | FIG-REGIONAL-MEN-2026-BASELINE-* |
| Slides | Not recorded | No slide deck is recorded for this edition. | ||
| Evidence brief | HTML · PDF | Not recorded | No evidence brief is recorded for this edition. | |
| Dataset with DOI | DataCite | At release | Concept and version DOI are minted at deposit; none is recorded yet. |
Provenance
- Edition pack
- The edition’s content pack (JSON), from which the print and web editions are built
- Evidence cut
- NQ-REG-MEN-2026-Q0-1, closed 30 September 2026
- Reproducibility
- sourced values cited; analytical values reproducible from stated parameters
- Self-check
- 14 of 23 at evidence close; a fail on any item blocks release
- Review
- five passes scheduled before release (in Annex C)
- Publisher of record
- The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) for the Nexus Consortium
- Corrections
- Registry correction pathway; upheld corrections are published as notices with a new version
Notes
Numbers are the edition’s reference numbers, so a note reads the same in every chapter. The full list, with every source and its licence, is in Annex C. Annex C, references
- 2Gulf Labour Markets, Migration and Population Programme (ed.), Saudi Arabia: Population by nationality (Saudi, non-Saudi), sex and age group, 2024 (table compiled from General Authority for Statistics data; total 35,300,280). GLMM, Gulf Research Center. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 3Gulf Labour Markets, Migration and Population Programme (ed.), UAE: Total population residing in the UAE, by sex, 2000 to 2024 (table compiled from Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre data; total 11,294,243). GLMM, Gulf Research Center. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 1DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Population, total (SP.POP.TOTL), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 5DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF, Mt CO2e (EN.GHG.ALL.MT.CE.AR5), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 7DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Electricity production from oil, gas and coal sources, oil sources and natural gas sources, % of total (EG.ELC.FOSL.ZS, EG.ELC.PETR.ZS, EG.ELC.NGAS.ZS), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 9Zawya Projects (ed.), Saudi Arabia renewables capacity jumps 87% to 12.3GW in 2025 (press report on IRENA capacity statistics; 12,332 MW). Zawya, Dubai. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 10Zawya Projects (ed.), Saudi leads GCC renewables growth as Oman, Qatar post fastest gains in 2025 (press report on IRENA data; United Arab Emirates addition of 1,054 MW read from the subheading, the rest of the page was behind a sign-up wall). Zawya, Dubai. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 11DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Renewable internal freshwater resources per capita, cubic metres (ER.H2O.INTR.PC), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2022. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 14Arab News Pakistan (ed.), Saudi Arabia boosts desalinated water supply to 50% in Vision 2030 push (press report of the General Authority for Statistics water accounts, 5 January 2025; desalinated water 50% of distributed supply in 2023, 44% in 2022). Arab News. Observation year 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 35Al Jazeera (ed.), Shutdown of Hormuz Strait raises fears of soaring oil prices (report, 3 March 2026; about one fifth of oil and LNG; Revolutionary Guard commander declared the strait closed; about 150 ships stranded). Al Jazeera Media Network, Doha. Observation year 2026. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 53UNVERIFIED, not opened: Saudi Water Authority (ed.), annual statistics on desalination production (not read; the earlier corporation name was used in search results). SWA, Riyadh. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 51UNVERIFIED, not opened: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (ed.), AQUASTAT global water information system, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates country data (not read). FAO, Rome. Observation year 2022. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 34POST-CLOSE, context only: International Monetary Fund (ed.), Managing Director’s remarks at the meeting of the Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors of the Gulf Cooperation Council, 1 October 2026 (GCC economy expected to contract in 2026; near closure of Hormuz sharply curtailed oil and gas exports; damage to energy facilities reduced production capacity). IMF, Washington DC. Observation year 2026. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 4DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Population growth, annual % (SP.POP.GROW), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 6DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Carbon dioxide emissions excluding LULUCF, total and per capita (EN.GHG.CO2.MT.CE.AR5 and EN.GHG.CO2.PC.CE.AR5), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 8DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Renewable electricity output, % of total (EG.ELC.RNEW.ZS), and renewable energy consumption, % of final energy (EG.FEC.RNEW.ZS), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2021. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 27DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Energy use, kg of oil equivalent per capita, electric power consumption, kWh per capita, and net energy imports, % of energy use (EG.USE.PCAP.KG.OE, EG.USE.ELEC.KH.PC, EG.IMP.CONS.ZS), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 37DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Access to electricity, % of population, and mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene, per 100,000 (EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS, SH.STA.WASH.P5), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 43UNVERIFIED, not opened: International Renewable Energy Agency (ed.), Renewable Capacity Statistics 2026 (the page returned access refused; Saudi and Emirati figures taken from press reports [9] [10]). IRENA, Abu Dhabi. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 12DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Annual freshwater withdrawals, total, % of internal resources (ER.H2O.FWTL.ZS), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2022. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 13DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Annual freshwater withdrawals by sector: agriculture, domestic and industry, % of total (ER.H2O.FWAG.ZS, ER.H2O.FWDM.ZS, ER.H2O.FWIN.ZS), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2022. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 15DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), People using at least basic drinking water services and safely managed drinking water services, % of population (SH.H2O.BASW.ZS, SH.H2O.SMDW.ZS), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 16DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Food imports, % of merchandise imports (TM.VAL.FOOD.ZS.UN), Saudi Arabia (2025) and United Arab Emirates (2023), World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 17DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Arable land, % of land area (AG.LND.ARBL.ZS), and agriculture, forestry and fishing value added, % of GDP (NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 18DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Food production index, 2014 to 2016 = 100 (AG.PRD.FOOD.XD), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 19Gulf News (ed.), Hajj 2024: Saudi Arabia says 1,301 deaths, mostly unregistered pilgrims (report of the Saudi Minister of Health announcement and the Saudi Press Agency, 23 June 2024; 83% unauthorised; no cause breakdown on the page). Gulf News, Dubai. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 20World Meteorological Organization (ed.), Rising temperatures and extreme weather hit Asia hard (press release on the State of the Climate in Asia 2024, 23 June 2025; 1.04 °C above 1991 to 2020; 259.5 mm in 24 hours in the United Arab Emirates). WMO, Geneva. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 21DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure, micrograms per cubic metre (EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 29DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: International Monetary Fund (ed.), Real GDP growth, annual percent change (NGDP_RPCH), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Economic Outlook database, October 2026, DataMapper interface. IMF, Washington DC. Observation year 2026. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 30DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: International Monetary Fund (ed.), Inflation rate, average consumer prices (PCPIPCH), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Economic Outlook database, October 2026, DataMapper interface. IMF, Washington DC. Observation year 2026. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 31DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: International Monetary Fund (ed.), General government net lending and borrowing, and gross debt, % of GDP (GGXCNL_NGDP, GGXWDG_NGDP), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Economic Outlook database, October 2026, DataMapper interface. IMF, Washington DC. Observation year 2026. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 32DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: International Monetary Fund (ed.), Current account balance, % of GDP (BCA_NGDPD), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, World Economic Outlook database, October 2026, DataMapper interface. IMF, Washington DC. Observation year 2026. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 33POST-CLOSE, context only: World Bank (ed.), Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan Economic Update, October 2026 (page opened; regional output minus 2.1% in 2026 after 3.3% in 2025; GCC minus 4.3% in 2026; press release dated 6 October 2026). World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2026. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 36Oman Observer (ed.), How the war is choking off the world’s oil and gas (report, 5 March 2026, citing a New York Times analysis of Kpler data; fire at the Fujairah energy hub from falling drone debris; Qatar halted LNG output). Oman Observer, Muscat. Observation year 2026. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 38DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Aggregate for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (code MEA in the interface), population, GDP, emissions, water, food and electricity indicators, World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08 (reference group only; includes countries outside the member set). World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 52UNVERIFIED, not opened: Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (ed.), GCC power grid interconnection (listed from memory; capacity and flows not read). GCCIA, Dammam. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 22DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), Fuel exports, % of merchandise exports (TX.VAL.FUEL.ZS.UN), and exports of goods and services, % of GDP (NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS), Saudi Arabia (2025) and United Arab Emirates (2023), World Development Indicators database, last updated 2026-10-08. World Bank, Washington DC. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
