In Yemen, 25.2 Billion Riyals Is Spent Annually On Qat

Report By Rajeh Bady, IOL Yemen Correspondent

SANAA, August 22 (IslamOnline) - According to a recently published study, the daily amount of money spent on a Yemeni form of tobacco, Qat, reaches nearly 70 million Riyals (One U.S. Dollar is an equivalent of 177 Yemeni Riyals), which means that an annual sum of 25.2 billion Riyals.

According to the study carried out by Dr. Mohammad Al Hawari, published in the Nawafedh magazine issue in August, the growing of Qat utilizes nearly 55 per cent of the overall underground water, and the monthly family expenditure on the drug reaches 12.01 per cent from the family’s income.

“Meanwhile, education expenditure is only 1.74 per cent of the income, purchasing cereals is 17.2 per cent, fruits is 2.9 per cent, health services is 2.91 per cent and vegetables is 4.6 per cent. Using Qat has affected the spending on necessary items, and so the living conditions have declined,” said Dr. Al Hawari.

He added that the statistics show that nearly 35 per cent of the residents of Yemen’s 20 million population use Qat, which has made it a deeply rooted problem with economic, social, health and ethical consequences and which endangers the society both now and for future generations.

He added that Qat consumptions have reached great heights as those using it constitute 70 to 80 per cent of the population between the ages of 16 to 50, who tend to use it one or three times a week.

Qat is being used by all sectors of the Yemeni society in both urban and rural areas and is not limited to workers or traders. It is even being consumed by women and by school and university students and their teachers.

The land used to grow Qat has witnessed unprecedented increase and it covers most areas in Yemen starting from the south to the central parts of Yemen and including the western coasts.