Language

Official language
Arabic (99.6%)

T-index
0.0097%

T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.

Other languages and dialects
Sanaani, Ta Izzi-Adeni, Hadrami, Gulf and Judeo-Yemen. 

The non-Arabic languages of Yemen include Razihi, Soqotri, Mehri, Bathari and Hobyot

Foreign languages
English, Russian

English
Very low proficiency (EF) – 112 of 112 countries/regions in the world- 12/12 position in the middle east.

Demography

Capital: Sana’a
Currency: Yemeni rial
Population: 30,49 m
Population density: 56.49/km2

Economy

GDP: 21.06 billion USD (2021)
GDP per capita: 690.8 USD ‎(2021) ‎
Exports: $1.26 billion (2020)

Statistics

Internet users: 26.7% penetration, 8.24 million
Unemployment rate: 12.81% (2019)
Urbanisation: 34.64% (2018)
Literacy: 49% (2018)

Conventions

Numbering system
Arabic numbering system and comma as decimal separator.

Date format: yyyy-mm-dd / dd-mm-yyyy
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 00967

Economy

Imports
$10.5 billion (2020). Wheat ($674M), Rice ($395M), Raw Iron Bars ($363M), Cars ($354M), and Raw Sugar ($342M), importing mostly from China ($2.88B), United Arab Emirates ($1.18B), Saudi Arabia ($1.07B), Turkey ($835M), and India ($791M).

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of  age)
• 6.4% have an account with a financial institution
• 0.4% have a credit card
• 3.5% have a mobile money account
• 0.7% make online purchases

Ease of doing business
Easy to conduct business (31.8 out of 100) 8th out of 20 North Africa and Middle East countries 187th worldwide out of 190 countries (2019, World Bank).

Exports
$1.26 billion (2020).  Crude Petroleum ($682M), Gold ($114M), Non-fillet Frozen Fish ($58.1M), Non-fillet Fresh Fish ($49.4M), and Industrial Fatty Acids, Oils and Alcohols ($31.6M), exporting mostly to China ($597M), Saudi Arabia ($174M), United Arab Emirates ($125M), Malaysia ($61.5M), and Thailand ($43.2M).

Main local online stores
Lazada, The Gioi Di Dong, Sendo, Shopee, Tiki

Global Innovation Index
Ranked 10th out of 17 Northern African and Western Asian countries, 131st out of 132 worldwide.

The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.

Media

Media language
Arabic 

Information channels
Yemen’s media have been polarised since the power struggle that erupted into open warfare in 2015. TV and radio dominate the media scene. The press, once among the liveliest and most outspoken in the region, has suffered more than other types of media from the effects of conflict. Many publications have folded, or suspended their print editions. The English-language press has all but disappeared. State TV is caught in a tug-of-war between the rebel Houthi movement and the Hadi government. Each side operates its own version of the two main channels, Yemen TV and Aden TV. Private satellite TVs operate from inside Yemen or from abroad, depending on the political climate and their relations with those in power. Journalists work in very difficult circumstances. Reporters Without Borders says reporters have been killed in air raids by the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis. Other journalists have disappeared; many of them are believed to be detained by the Houthis.

Press

Al-Thawrah – (The Revolution), government-owned daily, under Houthi control
Al-Yaman al-Yawm (Yemen Today) – associated with family of late ex-President Saleh
Sada al-Masirah – Houthi newspaper

Television

Republic of Yemen Television – pro-Houthi and pro-Hadi versions of the state TV are on the air
Yemen Today – private, supported late former president Saleh
Suhayl TV – pro-Islamist, via satellite
Al-Masirah (The March) – Houthi TV, operates from Beirut
Al-Sa’idah (The Happy One) – popular entertainment-based satellite network broadcasting from Egypt

Radio

Republic of Yemen Radio – state-run; Sanaa-based operations are under Houthi control

News Agencies

Yemen News Agency (Saba) – state-run, English-language pages
Marebpress – popular privately-run news site
Al-Tagheer – (Change), privately-run news site
Yemen Portal – news aggregator

Internet Data

Internet users
26.7% penetration, 8.24 million

Share of web traffic by device
80.02% mobile phones, 19.27% computers (laptops and desktops), 0.70% tablet devices,

Median speed of fixed Internet connection
2.76 Mbps

Mobile connection as a percentage of total population 62.2%

Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G) 21.6%

Most popular web search engines
Google (98.39%), Bing (1.06%), Yahoo (0.18%), DuckDuckgo (0.12%), Yandex (0.11%)

Most used social media
Facebook (73.44%), Twitter (7.22%), YouTube (5.53%), Pinterest (6.06%), Instagram (6.19%), Reddit (0.73%), Tumblr (0.28%)

Social statistics

Life expectancy
66.09 yrs (2017)

Average age of the population
29.2 yrs (2020) 

Class & Ethnicity
Yemen is a tribal society; therefore, people are mostly considered according to their tribe/city of origin. Depending on the organisation, where you come from may have a significant influence on where you go within the organisational structure.

Ethnic differences also effect dynamics within the organisational structure, with a “pure” Yemeni, a Yemeni whose both parents are from Yemen, being favoured over the “Muwalad” Yemeni who has a parent from a different country.

Healthcare expenditure
7.5% of GDP (2018)

Religion
Yemenis have a high consideration for religion and religious practices, as evidenced the various breaks for prayer during regular business hours.

Cultural Curiosities
Yemenis are predominantly Muslim, residents however are free to practice whatever religion they prefer. Paradoxically the government denies the conversion of Muslims to other religions and actively prohibits attempts to convert Muslims to other religions. 

As in many predominantly Muslim countries, the role of women is still marginal in society.