GCC Statistical Centre: Unified statistical system enhances integration among GCC states

By Mahmoud Boushahri (Interview) Muscat, Sept 14 (KUNA) -- The Statistical Office of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) constitutes one of the key pillars supporting the trajectory of joint GCC work. Through its efforts to build a unified statistical system, it contributes to enhancing integration among member states, providing comparable data and indicators, measuring performance, and tracking economic and social development paths.

As the economies of the Gulf states grow in size and population density, and as areas of cooperation diversify, the importance of the Center emerges as a bridge between national statistical agencies and a unified reference point. It provides a shared knowledge base that supports decision-making, helps prioritize actions, and aids in forecasting the future of joint GCC developmental efforts.

Marking the 15th anniversary of the GCC Ministerial Council’s approval of its establishment, Director General Intesar Al-Wahabi told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on Monday that the "GCC Statistical Office" has become a fundamental pillar of joint GCC work in the field of statistics, moving beyond the mere production of data and figures to building an integrated knowledge system that supports decision-makers, researchers, and specialists in member states.

Al-Wahabi added that the GCC Ministerial Council approved the establishment of the Center in September 2011, before its Statute was adopted by the Supreme Council in December 2012. Currently headquartered in Muscat and possessing independent legal personality, it serves as the official statistical reference for the GCC and the source of its official statistical data.

She explained that the Center’s development has progressed from merely coordinating statistical efforts to building an integrated system that includes data collection, classification, and analysis, database development, preparation of unified GCC indicators, and the publication of studies and reports that help understand the region’s reality and development paths.

Regarding its contribution to enhancing integration among GCC states, she noted that it represents one of the institutional tools supporting GCC integration, which requires a unified and reliable information base to help comprehensively read the region’s reality and measure progress levels in various fields.

She stated that since its establishment, the Center has worked to unify concepts, definitions, and statistical methodologies, coordinate efforts among national statistical agencies, and produce comparable GCC indicators. This allows for building a comprehensive picture of the economic, social, and developmental conditions in member states.

Al-Wahabi clarified that "statistics here does not represent an activity separate from the GCC’s trajectory; rather, it is one of the fundamental enablers of joint GCC work. When we possess unified data on intra-GCC trade, investments, population movement, labor markets, tourism, energy, sustainable development, and other areas, we can measure the level of integration, track developments, identify gaps, and evaluate joint policies and programs."

She pointed out that unified data enables a shift from dealing with indicators at the individual country level to reading the GCC states as a single economic and social bloc, emphasizing that this is crucial when evaluating economic and developmental integration paths.

In this context, she noted that "when we have comparable indicators on trade, investment, tourism, energy, labor markets, we can measure the movement of these sectors among GCC states, track their trends, identify strengths and available opportunities, as well as areas requiring further coordination and integration."

Furthermore, Al-Wahabi stressed the importance of unified data in supporting studies and reports relied upon by decision-makers, as they provide a knowledge base upon which joint GCC policies and programs can be built.

Regarding the Center’s role in measuring the achievement of joint GCC work objectives, she explained that statistics provides measurement tools that help transition from setting objectives to monitoring results. Moreover, the economic, social, and developmental paths of joint GCC work require clear indicators through which achievements can be known, developments compared over time, and progress and challenges identified.

She added, "From this perspective, the Center does not limit itself to producing numbers but works on developing indicators and statistical products that help read the transformations witnessed by GCC states and measure development and integration paths more accurately."

Turning to the latest economic indicators for the GCC bloc, Al-Wahabi said that the latest indicators published on the Center’s website indicate that the total population of GCC states reached 63.3 million in 2025, while GDP at current prices reached approximately $2.4 trillion.

She noted that crude oil production reached 16.6 million barrels per day, while the region welcomed approximately 75.7 million tourists during the same year. The average annual inflation rate stood at 1.8 percent, and total merchandise trade among GCC states reached approximately $1.6 trillion in 2024.

She clarified that these figures not only reflect the economic and demographic weight of GCC states but also confirm the necessity of a statistical body capable of reading this economic and social bloc in a unified manner and measuring its development over time.

Regarding the link between GCC decision-making and unified data, she stated that the core value of unified data lies in the ability to compare and achieve common understanding. "When concepts, definitions, and methodologies are similar or unified, it becomes possible to compare growth rates, inflation, trade, population, labor markets, tourism, energy, and the environment more accurately, either as a whole or for an individual country."

Accordingly, Al-Wahabi justified the need for "effective" economic and social planning for reliable and comparable data, pointing to the Center’s work in providing this knowledge base that helps evaluate performance, identify gaps, and discover trends.

When asked about the difference between traditional and modern statistics, she explained that modern statistics is no longer limited to recording what happened; it has become a tool for understanding variables, analyzing trends, evaluating policies, and building future scenarios. "Therefore, the value of statistics does not lie solely in their production, but in our ability to transform numbers into knowledge, knowledge into policies, and policies into measurable developmental results."

Regarding the Center’s integrated work with national statistical agencies in member states, Al-Wahabi affirmed that this partnership represents one of the most important pillars of GCC statistical work. The relationship is based on the exchange of data and expertise, developing methodologies and standards, capacity building, implementing joint statistical programs, and producing comparable indicators between countries.

With regard to the Center’s main functions within this system, she said the Center covers various stages of the statistical cycle: "We are responsible for collecting, classifying, and analyzing data from the national statistical centers of GCC states, and creating and managing comprehensive and unified statistical databases covering various developmental fields."

Additionally, she stated that the Center works on setting methodologies, regulations, and technical guidelines to coordinate and improve the quality of statistical work, alongside capacity building through technical support, training, and qualifying personnel in national statistical agencies. This is followed by the production and publication of unified statistical indicators and facilitating their availability to the public, decision-makers, and beneficiaries.

Regarding publications on the Center’s electronic website, she noted that the publication base has expanded with the widening scope of statistical work. The platform currently includes 886 publications according to existing classifications: 315 in economic statistics, 79 in demographic and social statistics, 40 in sustainable development, 17 in environmental statistics, and 49 in guides and methodologies.

Regarding recent prominent publications, she mentioned the "Statistical Atlas of the GCC States in its Tenth Edition," which provides unified and comparable data reflecting the development reality in GCC states, supporting decision-makers and researchers, and enhancing GCC statistical integration.

Concerning the method of making GCC data available to users in the context of digital transformation, the GCC official stated that the Center has witnessed a clear shift from traditional publishing to interactive digital publishing. A prominent tool in this field is the data portal "Marsa," which allows users access to a wide range of GCC statistical data sets.

Regarding the launch of the Center’s fourth website edition last June and its key features, Al-Wahabi said it represents a qualitative technological leap aimed at improving user experience and facilitating access to statistics and publications.

She highlighted key additions, including the interactive smart assistant "Ask Ahmed and Sarah," which helps site visitors quickly access publications, news, and statistics, alongside improved content management, enhanced user experience across various devices, and the addition of other digital services.

On the extent of artificial intelligence’s connection to GCC statistical work, she affirmed that it has become one of the most prominent files that will reshape the future of statistical work, especially with the significant growth in data volume and source diversity. She confirmed the trend toward exploring practical applications of modern technologies in statistical production.

She explained how AI technology can contribute to developing data collection methods, cleaning and verifying data quality, analyzing large volumes of information, discovering trends and patterns, improving predictive capabilities, and developing faster and smarter tools for accessing statistics.

Regarding the Center’s priorities in the coming phase, Al-Wahabi said the Center is entering a stage of implementing the Strategic Plan for GCC Statistical Work for the period (2026–2030), which serves as a framework for developing joint statistical work, enhancing integration between the Center and national agencies, improving data quality, and developing production and publication methods.

She continued: "A set of priorities emerges, including digital transformation, big data processing, leveraging artificial intelligence, developing data quality, capacity building, enhancing the use of data in decision-making, and expanding the scope of analysis and forecasting."

Speaking about these priorities, the Center’s Director General shed light on the changing nature of GCC economies, emphasizing the need for new tools to measure emerging and rapidly growing sectors such as the digital economy, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and the green economy.

She affirmed that the coming phase requires moving "from the question 'What happened?' to deeper questions like 'Why did it happen?'" Here, the importance of analysis and forecasting emerges. Statistics should not merely describe reality but serve as a tool to help discover trends early amid the economic, technological, and environmental transformations witnessed by GCC states.

Regarding the Center’s role in measuring GCC integration, Al-Wahabi noted that joint statistical work is an important element in measuring the trajectory of economic integration among GCC states by tracking intra-GCC and external trade, investments, tourism, population movement, energy, labor markets, and other fields.

She added that unified data helps evaluate the performance of Gulf economies collectively, compare trends between countries, and identify strengths and gaps, thereby supporting economic diversification and integration paths.

When asked how statistical work relates to sustainable development goals, she replied that "sustainable development goals require accurate data that measures progress and reveals gaps." She noted that the Center provides products and data related to sustainable development goals, alongside economic, social, and environmental indicators that help read the transformations witnessed by GCC states.

Regarding society and the importance of spreading statistical culture, the GCC official affirmed that the Center attaches importance to building statistical culture and raising awareness about the correct use of data. "We live in an era where numbers and indicators flow through media, social media, and digital platforms. Therefore, the ability to read data, understand its sources, and grasp its methodologies has become a necessity for society through interactive presentation tools."

When asked about the future of the GCC Statistical Center as statistical work enters a new phase characterized by digital transformation, big data, and artificial intelligence, Al-Wahabi said the next challenge "does not lie merely in producing more numbers, but in producing data that is faster, more accurate, and smarter, and transforming it into knowledge that can support more proactive GCC decisions capable of dealing with changes."

Regarding the vision the Center holds for the coming decade, she said it can be summarized in a clear equation: "Reliable data.. comparable indicators.. deeper analysis.. smarter technologies.. and developmental decisions based on knowledge," thereby supporting development and integration and enhancing the ability of GCC states to forecast the future. (End) M.J.B