ESCWA index shows sharp drop in Syria's development

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) index on the Millennium Goals showed a sharp decrease in Syria's economic and development after 1,000 of violent conflicts, local media reported Thursday. The index said that "experts' warnings in 2011 about the economical repercussion of the Syrian war have proven to be real fact today." It added Syria's GDP decreased by 45 percent and its number of unemployed reached the alarming level of 3 million out of a total workforce of about 5 million. It cautioned that if the struggle continued till 2015, the total cost of Syria would equal three generations of economic development and two generations of human development. It said the number of Syrians under the line of poverty increased by 19 percent, considering these figure as "a natural result of the 1,000 days of war that deprived the Syrian economy of its capacity to meet the basic needs of the citizens." Particularly, it noted Syria's oil production dropped to 15,000 barrels per day compared with the capacity of 385,000 barrels per day in 2010. A rebellion against the administration of Syrian President Bashar Assad erupted in March 2011 and many foreign Jihadist and Salafists have joined forces with the rebels in their ongoing conflict with the government troops.