Located in the strategically crucial Horn of Africa on the eastern edge of the continent - adjacent to the Red Sea, Suez Canal and key commercial waterways, Somalia is one of the most important countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region with its 10.5 million dynamic population spread over an area of 637,540 square kilometres. However, internal conflicts, on-going clashes among different groups and severe drought heavily affected the pace of development in Somalia over the last decade.

This background report sheds light on the socio-economic development of Somalia over the last decade with a view to identifying the current bottlenecks and challenges facing the country in its developmental efforts. The report, wherever possible, undertakes a comparative analysis through comparing Somalia with the averages of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member Countries and Least Developed Countries (LDC) in order to better reflect the relative stance of Somalia.

Online Electronic Version

• Somalia: Overview of Socio-Economic Development (English)