Oman ranks 40th in global food security index

Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman ranked fourth among the GCC countries in the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) 2021, published by the Economist Impact. The Sultanate of Oman ranked first among the GCC countries in Food Affordability and Availability, Natural Resources and Resilience indices and third in the Quality and Safety of Food index.

The report indicated that the Sultanate of Oman ranked 40th globally, Qatar ranked 24th and first among the GCC countries, followed by Kuwait in the 30th place and the UAE at the 35th global ranking. Bahrain ranked 43rd and Saudi Arabia 44th.

The report indicated that the GCC countries represent the first six positions at the level of the Arab countries with the Sultanate of Oman ranked fourth at the level of the GCC states securing 70.0 points. Qatar claimed the highest ranking among the GCC countries with a score of 73.6 points, followed by Kuwait with 72.2 points, the United Arab Emirates with 71.0 points, Bahrain with 68.5 points and Saudi Arabia with 68.1 points.

The report highlighted the basic issues of food security. In the Food Affordability index, Denmark and Ireland ranked first and second globally. The ranking of the GCC countries ranged from 18-59, with the Sultanate of Oman topping the GCC countries in this index and ranking 18th globally securing 88.8 point followed by Qatar in the 31st place globally, Kuwait in the 44th place, Bahrain in the 46th place, the UAE in the 50th place and Saudi Arabia in the 53rd place.

In the index of Natural Resources Availability and Resilience, Norway and Finland topped globally. The Sultanate of Oman topped the GCC countries with 45.2 points and ranked 76th globally followed by Saudi Arabia in the 84th place globally with 44.3 points. The UAE came in the 88th place globally with 43.6 points, Qatar ranked 91st . Kuwait ranked 93rd and Bahrain 107th.

The Global Food Security Index (GFSI) considers the issues of food affordability, availability, quality and safety, and natural resources and resilience across a set of 113 countries. The index is a dynamic quantitative and qualitative benchmarking model constructed from 58 unique indicators that measure the drivers of food security across both developing and developed countries.