87.5% of Lebanon’s population is urban while its agriculture is highly performing

World Bank figures on Lebanon’s environment indicated that the urban population in the country constitutes about 87.5% of the total population compared to 60.1% in the Middle East and North Africa and 53% globally. WB figures also showed that arable land constitute 72% of the country’s total area, compare to 38% globally. The report noted that agricultural productivity for the year 2000 was estimated at USD 39,595 per worker which is remarkably higher than global levels, which are estimated at USD 1,193 only. Published in ‘Lebanon This Week’s’ edition of Byblos Bank Group, the World Bank data also indicated that natural land reserves in the country make up only 0.6% of the total land area against a global 14.3% rate. In parallel, the World Bank pointed out that the per capita energy consumption posted 1.449 kilograms of oil equivalent and a 3.499 kilowatt / hour of electricity per capita, outweighing the consumption rate in the MENA region, (1.696) and the global figure of 3.045 kilowatt/hour per capita. (An Nahar, September3, 2015)