"Saudis Life Quality Among Worst in World."
August 10, 2012
Saudi Arabia is among
the countries with the worst living conditions according to the latest
global rankings despite being the world’s biggest oil exporter.
An international website which ranks the states from the best to the worst in terms of living conditions has in its ranking placed Saudi Arabia in the 169th position among 190 states.
Only Iraq, Somali, Yemen, and Sudan rank lower than Saudi Arabia in the list.
Saudi media have sharply criticized the government over widespread poverty in the kingdom.
Last month, Saudi newspaper Okaz reported that sixty percent of the people in Saudi Arabia live below the poverty line.
Saudi journalist Khaled al-Harbi wrote in an article that while Saudi Arabia earns 1,500 billion riyals (around 400 billion dollars) a year, the average salary of an ordinary Saudi citizen is around 1,500 riyals (around 400 dollars) a month.
Saudi activists have criticized Riyadh for spending vast sums on buying arms from the West and not helping the millions living in poverty.
In 2010, Riyadh purchased over 60 billion dollars worth of weapons from the United States, which Washington lauded as the largest arms deal in history.
AGB/MA/AZ
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Editor's Note: Saudi Arabia also finishes near dead-last in regards to women's rights (page 11, .pdf) - not based on contrived metrics or difficult to gauge "equality," but on basic rights denied such as being banned from driving, voting, etc.
