5% of the People Who Have Access to the Internet Speak Arabic

There are over 184 million Arabic native speakers who have access to the internet, and it’s a fact that today 9 out of 10 users prefer to read content in their native language.

Photo by Arisa S. on Unsplash

Since Arabic localization possibly creates challenges, many online resources are available for free to help you navigate your projects.

One of the best ones circulating at the moment is the Arabic Passport, a playbook in 3 volumes, designed for Project Managers, Salespeople, Vendor Managers, or simply anyone who is interested in Arabic, to learn about relevant data and interesting facts about localization in this language.

Thanks to this booklet, I’ve learned a lot about the Arabic language, and here is some interesting information that, maybe, you weren’t aware of.
Arabic-speaking users have a remarkable presence on the web, although the same cannot be said about the Arabic language itself and this can prove to be an obstacle if you have a business planning to expand to the UAE or any Arabic country.

Here are some things to think about, which you will find in the Arabic Passport playbook:

• Internet penetration in the Middle East is as high as 70%
• in the rest of the world, internet penetration averages at less than 60%
• in 2020, fewer than 1% of web pages were displayed in Arabic

It can safely be said that Arabic localization is a business opportunity that companies can’t afford to miss. Research highlights how the number of users grows with the amount of localized content available in a certain language.

Matteo Ippoliti, CEO and Founder of Langpros, a translation agency in Dubai that released the playbook, has said “Any company looking to localize content into Arabic should consider a certain amount of planning. You must take many aspects into account: from your website’s layout to your images and logos, from word choice to branding. Arabic localization hides many potential pitfalls, and you should be aware of the fact that they might be hiding where you least expect them to”.

When translating from another language into Arabic, anyone must be extremely aware of the implications their translation might have on the end-users, and it will be key to consider the fact that some Arabic translators might refuse to translate texts pertaining to the food industry because the Arabic language is so connected to Arabic culture and Religion.