The number of unemployed people in the Arab world will rise to 19 million in 2020, up eight million from 2008, Kuwait-based think tank The Arab Planning Institute said.

However, regional unemployment rates will remain unchanged at 11 percent.

“These numbers show that most Arab countries suffer from worrying rises in unemployment in comparison with other regions of the world,” read the API’s statement.

“[We noticed] a rise in unemployment rates among the youth. We noticed also, that Arab girls are more likely to be unemployed than adult women and male youth. In addition, educated youth suffer more from unemployment than uneducated youth,” it added.

Population growth rates will rise, a trend not unlike those in other developing countries, according to the API, with birth rates rising and mortality rates falling.

Population growth rates in the Arab world have multiplied by a factor of three-and-a-half between 1960 and 2008, reaching 300 million from 86 million in 1960. Arab populations have grown at an average annual rate of 3.5 percent, The Daily Star reported.