Demographics of the United Arab Emirates
This article contains demographic features of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), including population density, vital statistics, immigration and emigration data, ethnicity, education levels, religions practiced, and languages spoken within the UAE.
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Life in the United Arab Emirates |
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Population
Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
---|---|---|
1963 | 95,000 | — |
1968 | 180,226 | +13.66% |
1975 | 557,887 | +17.52% |
1980 | 1,042,099 | +13.31% |
1985 | 1,379,303 | +5.77% |
1995 | 2,411,041 | +5.74% |
1999 | 2,938,000 | +5.07% |
2005 | 4,106,427 | +5.74% |
2010 | 8,264,070 | +15.01% |
2011 | 8,925,096 | +8.00% |
2012 | 9,205,651 | +3.14% |
2013 | 9,346,129[1] | +1.53% |
2016 | 9,269,610[1] | −0.27% |
2018 | 9,599,353[2] | +1.76% |
Sources:[3][4] |
The United Arab Emirates witnessed significant population increase during the past few years because of major growth in the various economic sectors, which lead to influx of workers from diverse cultural and religious background. From 4.1 million in 2005 to roughly 9.5 million in 2018.[5] Out of this, the number of UAE citizens is around 11.5% and the remaining 88.5% made up of Expatriate workers. The largest group of non-UAE nationals are South Asian 59.4% (includes Indians 38.2%, Bangladeshi 9.5%, Pakistani 9.4%, others 2.3%), Egyptian 10.2%, Filipino 6.1%, other 12.8%.[6]
Female citizens and non-citizens account for 28% percent of the UAE'S population due to the high level of male foreign workers.[7] The majority of the UAE population falls in the age group of 25 to 54 year old. A large part of this can be attributed to the expatriate population of working men and women who fall in the age category.[8] Population is heavily concentrated to the northeast on the Musandam Peninsula, the three largest Emirates - Abu Dhabi (2.9 million), Dubai (2.7 million) and Sharjah (1.4 million), are home to nearly 75% of the population.[9][10][11]
Emirate | Census 1975 | Census 1985 | Census 1995 | Census 2005 | Est. 2010 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abu Dhabi | 211,812 | 566,036 | 942,463 | 1,399,484 | |
Dubai | 183,187 | 370,788 | 689,420 | 1,321,453 | |
Sharjah | 78,790 | 228,317 | 402,792 | 793,573 | |
Ajman | 16,690 | 54,546 | 121,491 | 206,997 | |
Umm Al-Quwain | 6,908 | 19,285 | 35,361 | 49,159 | |
Ras Al-Khaimah | 43,845 | 96,578 | 143,334 | 210,063 | |
Fujairah | 16,655 | 43,753 | 76,180 | 125,698 | |
Total | 557,887 | 1,379,303 | 2,411,041 | 4,106,427 | 7,512,000 (UN)[12] 8,190,000 (NBS)[13] |
Population pyramid data
Age group | Male | Female | Total | % |
---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 2 806 141 | 1 300 286 | 4 106 427 | 100 |
0-4 | 145 601 | 136 538 | 282 139 | 6.87 |
5-9 | 139 929 | 129 453 | 269 382 | 6.56 |
10-14 | 130 778 | 118 279 | 249 057 | 6.07 |
15-19 | 121 388 | 110 838 | 232 226 | 5.66 |
20-24 | 272 036 | 161 530 | 433 566 | 10.56 |
25-29 | 483 657 | 178 137 | 661 794 | 16.12 |
30-34 | 489 879 | 150 482 | 640 361 | 15.59 |
35-39 | 386 762 | 113 844 | 500 606 | 12.19 |
40-44 | 262 718 | 78 543 | 341 261 | 8.31 |
45-49 | 174 459 | 51 311 | 225 770 | 5.50 |
50-54 | 107 339 | 31 539 | 138 878 | 3.38 |
55-59 | 51 303 | 15 804 | 67 107 | 1.63 |
60-64 | 18 820 | 8 527 | 27 347 | 0.67 |
65-69 | 9 172 | 5 285 | 14 457 | 0.35 |
70-74 | 5 391 | 4 013 | 9 404 | 0.23 |
75-79 | 2 440 | 1 837 | 4 277 | 0.10 |
80-84 | 1 537 | 1 439 | 2 976 | 0.07 |
85+ | 1 250 | 1 165 | 2 415 | 0.06 |
unknown | 1 682 | 1 722 | 3 404 | 0.08 |
Age group | Male | Female | Total | Percent |
---|---|---|---|---|
0-14 | 416 308 | 384 270 | 800 578 | 19.50 |
15-64 | 2 366 679 | 898 833 | 3 265 512 | 79.52 |
65+ | 21 472 | 15 461 | 36 933 | 0.90 |
Education and Employment
The United Arab Emirates government have always focused on increasing the quality of education, allowing female access to higher education and value their achievements. Currently, there are more women in higher education than men, with total graduates of 58 percent. However, the unemployment rate for women is about more than five times higher than men. The program that is the most popular is business with the highest number of graduates, and the second popular program is Humanities and social science.[7] The UAE relies on migrant workers, and they make up a majority of the population and will continue to increase and will be about 88.2 percent of the population in 2030.[15]
Vital statistics
UN prospects
Period | Live births per year | Deaths per year | Natural change per year | CBR | CDR | NC | TFR | IMR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1950–1955 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 49.4 | 20.8 | 28.6 | 6.97 | 175 |
1955–1960 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 49.3 | 18.0 | 31.3 | 6.97 | 156 |
1960–1965 | 5,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 46.3 | 13.2 | 33.2 | 6.87 | 120 |
1965–1970 | 8,000 | 2,000 | 6,000 | 41.2 | 8.7 | 32.5 | 6.77 | 77 |
1970–1975 | 12,000 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 32.6 | 6.4 | 26.2 | 6.36 | 51 |
1975–1980 | 23,000 | 4,000 | 19,000 | 29.1 | 4.6 | 24.5 | 5.66 | 36 |
1980–1985 | 36,000 | 4,000 | 32,000 | 30.5 | 3.7 | 26.8 | 5.23 | 25 |
1985–1990 | 45,000 | 5,000 | 40,000 | 28.4 | 3.1 | 25.4 | 4.83 | 17 |
1990–1995 | 48,000 | 5,000 | 42,000 | 23.0 | 2.5 | 20.4 | 3.88 | 12 |
1995–2000 | 49,000 | 6,000 | 43,000 | 18.1 | 2.1 | 16.0 | 2.97 | 10 |
2000–2005 | 57,000 | 6,000 | 51,000 | 16.2 | 1.7 | 14.4 | 2.38 | 8 |
2005–2010 | 81,000 | 8,000 | 73,000 | 14.0 | 1.4 | 12.6 | 1.86 | 7 |
CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman) |
Source: United National World Population Prospects[12]
Births and deaths
Year | Population | Live births | Deaths | Natural increase | Crude birth rate | Crude death rate | Rate of natural increase | TFR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1976 | 646,900 | 21,394 | 33.1 | |||||
1977 | 748,100 | 23,119 | 30.9 | |||||
1978 | 852,200 | 27,645 | 32.4 | |||||
1979 | 952,000 | 31,685 | 33.3 | |||||
1980 | 1,042,000 | 34,774 | 33.4 | |||||
1981 | 1,121,000 | 38,547 | 34.4 | |||||
1982 | 1,190,000 | 41,961 | 35.3 | |||||
1983 | 1,253,000 | 43,419 | 34.7 | |||||
1984 | 1,318,000 | 43,704 | 33.2 | |||||
1985 | 1,391,000 | 44,192 | 31.8 | |||||
1986 | 1,472,000 | 45,460 | 3,222 | 42,238 | 30.9 | 2.2 | 28.7 | |
1987 | 1,561,000 | 47,703 | 3,231 | 44,472 | 30.6 | 2.1 | 28.5 | |
1988 | 1,656,000 | 50,836 | 3,447 | 47,389 | 30.7 | 2.1 | 28.6 | |
1989 | 1,756,000 | 51,903 | 3,640 | 48,263 | 29.6 | 2.1 | 27.5 | |
1990 | 1,860,000 | 52,264 | 3,938 | 48,326 | 28.1 | 2.1 | 26.0 | |
1991 | 1,970,000 | 49,496 | 4,026 | 45,470 | 25.4 | 2.0 | 23.4 | |
1992 | 2,087,000 | 50,604 | 4,271 | 46,333 | 24.2 | 2.0 | 22.2 | |
1993 | 2,207,000 | 50,197 | 4,342 | 45,855 | 22.7 | 2.0 | 20.7 | |
1994 | 2,329,000 | 52,440 | 4,584 | 47,856 | 22.5 | 2.0 | 20.5 | |
1995 | 2,449,000 | 48,567 | 4,779 | 43,788 | 19.8 | 2.0 | 17.8 | |
1996 | 2,571,000 | 47,050 | 4,785 | 42,265 | 18.3 | 1.9 | 16.4 | |
1997 | 2,700,000 | 46,360 | 4,878 | 41,482 | 17.2 | 1.8 | 15.4 | |
1998 | 2,838,000 | 48,136 | 5,033 | 43,103 | 17.0 | 1.8 | 15.2 | |
1999 | 2,988,000 | 49,659 | 5,194 | 44,465 | 16.6 | 1.7 | 14.9 | |
2000 | 3,155,000 | 53,686 | 5,396 | 48,290 | 17.0 | 1.7 | 15.3 | |
2001 | 3,326,000 | 56,136 | 5,777 | 50,359 | 16.9 | 1.7 | 15.2 | |
2002 | 3,507,000 | 58,070 | 5,994 | 52,075 | 16.6 | 1.7 | 14.9 | |
2003 | 3,742,000 | 61,165 | 6,002 | 55,163 | 16.3 | 1.6 | 14.7 | |
2004 | 4,088,000 | 63,113 | 6,123 | 56,990 | 15.4 | 1.5 | 13.9 | |
2005 | 4,580,000 | 64,623 | 6,361 | 58,262 | 14.1 | 1.4 | 12.7 | |
2006 | 5,242,000 | 62,960 | 6,483 | 56,477 | 12.0 | 1.2 | 10.8 | |
2007 | 6,044,000 | 67,677 | 7,414 | 60,263 | 11.2 | 1.2 | 10.0 | |
2008 | 6,894,000 | 68,779 | 7,755 | 61,024 | 9.9 | 1.1 | 8.8 | |
2009 | 7,666,000 | 76,366 | 7,789 | 68,577 | 10.0 | 1.0 | 9.0 | |
2010 | 8,271,000 | 79,625 | 7,414 | 72,211 | 9.6 | 0.9 | 8.7 | |
2011 | 8,672,000 | 83,950 | 7,350 | 76,600 | 9.7 | 0.8 | 8.9 | |
2012 | 8,900,000 | 89,578 | 7,702 | 81,876 | 10.1 | 0.9 | 9.2 | |
2013 | 9,006,000 | 93,539 | 8,015 | 88,524 | 10.4 | 0.9 | 9.5 | |
2014 | 9,071,000 | 95,860 | 8,265 | 87,595 | 10.6 | 0.9 | 9.7 | |
2015 | 9,154,000 | 97,328 | 8,755 | 88,573 | 10.6 | 1.0 | 9.6 | |
2016 | 9,121,200 | 98,299 | 8,988 | 89,311 | 10.8 | 1.0 | 9.8 | |
2017 | 9,304,300 | 97,738 | 8,826 | 88,912 | 10.5 | 0.9 | 9.6 | |
2018 | 95,309 | 8,794 | 86,515 | 10.2 | 0.9 | 9.3 | ||
Life expectancy
Period | Life expectancy in Years |
Period | Life expectancy in Years |
---|---|---|---|
1950–1955 | 43.9 | 1985–1990 | 70.7 |
1955–1960 | 49.6 | 1990–1995 | 72.2 |
1960–1965 | 54.7 | 1995–2000 | 73.6 |
1965–1970 | 59.6 | 2000–2005 | 74.8 |
1970–1975 | 63.4 | 2005–2010 | 75.9 |
1975–1980 | 66.4 | 2010–2015 | 76.7 |
1980–1985 | 68.8 | 2019 | 78[18] |
Source: UN World Population Prospects[19]
Ethnicity of UAE immigrants
The UAE National Bureau of Statistics does not publish demographic data in relation to any nationality. The figures listed in the table below are estimates provided by each country's embassy.[20]
Nationals of | Population | % of total population | Year of data |
---|---|---|---|
India | 2,600,000 | 27.15% | 2019 |
Pakistan | 1,200,000 | 12.53% | 2014 |
UAE | 1,084,764 | 11.32% | 2015 |
Bangladesh | 700,000 | 7.31% | 2013 |
Philippines | 525,530 | 5.49% | 2014 |
Iran* | 400,000 – 500,000 | 4.18% – 5.22% | N/A |
Egypt* | 400,000 | 4.18% | 2014 |
Nepal | 300,000 | 3.13% | 2014 |
Sri Lanka | 300,000 | 3.13% | 2015 |
Syria | >250,000[21] | ≈2.6% | 2016 |
United Kingdom | 250,000 | 1.25% | 2015 |
China | 200,000 | 2.09% | 2015 |
Jordan | 200,000 | 2.09% | 2015 |
Afghanistan | 150,000 | 1.57% | <2011 |
Palestine | 150,000 | 1.57% | 2009 |
South Africa | 100,000 | 1.04% | 2014 |
Lebanon* | 100,000 | 1.04% | 2015 |
Ethiopia | 90,000 | 0.94% | 2014 |
Yemen | 90,000 | 0.94% | 2013 |
Indonesia | 85,000 | 0.89% | 2015 |
Sudan | 75,000 | 0.78% | 2013 |
Saudi Arabia | 70,000 | 0.73% | 2014 |
Somalia | 70,000 | 0.73% | 2015 |
Iraq | 52,000 | 0.54% | 2014 |
United States | 50,000 | 0.52% | 2015 |
Canada | 40,000 | 0.42% | 2014 |
Kenya | 40,000 | 0.42% | 2014 |
France | 25,000 | 0.26% | 2015 |
Australia | 16,000 | 0.17% | 2015 |
Germany | 12,000 | 0.12% | 2013 |
Spain | 12,000 | 0.11% | 2015 |
Algeria | 10,000 | 0.10% | 2014 |
Italy | 10,000 | 0.10% | 2014 |
South Korea | 10,000 | 0.10% | 2014 |
Thailand | 10,000 | 0.10% | 2014 |
Turkey | 10,000 | 0.10% | 2014 |
Azerbaijan | 7,000 | 0.07% | 2015 |
Ireland | 7,000 | 0.07% | 2015 |
Malaysia | 6,000 – 7,000 | 0.06% – 0.07% | 2015 |
Colombia | 5,466 | 0.06% | 2018[22] |
Kazakhstan | 5,000 – 6,000 | 0.05% – 0.06% | 2015 |
Greece | 5,000 | 0.05% | 2015 |
Mauritania | 5,000 | 0.05% | 2015 |
Netherlands | 5,000 | 0.05% | 2015 |
Serbia | 5,000 | 0.05% | 2015 |
Ukraine | 5,000 | 0.05% | 2014 |
Sweden | 4,000 | 0.04% | 2015 |
Denmark | 3,000 – 4,000 | ≈0.03% | 2015 |
Mexico | 3,000 – 3,500 | ≈0.03% | 2014 |
Belgium | 3,000 | 0.03% | 2015 |
Eritrea | 3,000 | 0.03% | 2015 |
Japan | 2,603 | ≈0.03% | 2015 |
Dominican Republic | 2,000-3,000 | 0.02% – 0.03% | 2015 |
Austria | 2,500 | ≈0.03% | 2015 |
Belarus | 2,500 | ≈0.03% | 2015 |
Hungary | 2,500 | ≈0.03% | 2015 |
Switzerland | 2,430 | ≈0.03% | 2013 |
Poland | 2,348 | ≈0.02% | 2015 |
Singapore | >2,000 | ≈0.02% | 2015 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1,000 – 2,000 | 0.01% – 0.02% | 2015 |
Czech Republic | 1,500 | ≈0.02% | 2015 |
Venezuela | 1,200 | ≈0.01% | 2015 |
Norway | 1,184 | ≈0.01% | 2015 |
Finland | 1,180 | ≈0.01% | 2014 |
Cyprus | 1,000 | ≈0.01% | 2014 |
Slovakia | 1,000 | ≈0.01% | 2014 |
Senegal | 700 – 800 | < 0.01% | 2015 |
Ghana | 500 | < 0.01% | 2015 |
New Zealand | 444 | < 0.01% | 2015 |
Taiwan | 400 | < 0.01% | 2015 |
Latvia | 300 | < 0.01% | 2014 |
Peru | 300 | < 0.01% | 2015 |
Chile | 270 | < 0.01% | 2014 |
Albania | 200 – 300 | < 0.01% | 2015 |
Chad | 200 | < 0.01% | 2015 |
Slovenia | 100 – 150 | < 0.01% | 2015 |
Angola | 100 | < 0.01% | 2015 |
Zimbabwe | 1 | < 0.001% | 2018 |
*The figures for the countries marked with a "*" cannot be directly sourced to embassy statements.
Ethnic groups
- Emirati nationals 11.32%
- Other Arab and Iranian nationalities ≈18%
- South Asian nationalities ≈60%
- Other expatriate nationalities (includes Westerners, East Asians and Africans) ≈12%[23]
Languages
Arabic is the official and national language of the UAE. The Gulf dialect of Arabic is spoken by the Emirati people which differs in accents from other Arab/ Middle Eastern countries[24] The Larestani language (Persian dialect) is also spoken by a number of Emiratis.[25] Apart from Arabic, English is widely used. Other languages spoken in the UAE, due to immigration, include Malayalam, Urdu, Hindi, Persian, Cebuano, Pashto, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi, Tamil, Baluchi (Southern Baluchi), Sinhala, Russian, Somali, Tagalog, Nepali, Mandarin, Telugu, Spanish, Italian and Greek.
Practiced religions
Religions are represented in the UAE as follows:[23]
CIA World Factbook demographic statistics
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.[26]
Age structure
- 0–14 years: 0% (male 500,928/female 678,388)
- 15–24 years: 13.53% (male 476,813/female 324,982)
- 25–54 years: 61.27% (male 2,767,886/female 863,816)
- 55–64 years: 3.23% (male 142,661/female 48,715)
- 65 years and over: 1.04% (male 38,444/female 23,184)
- Note: 85% of the population consists of non-citizens (2005 est.).
Population growth rate
- 2.37% (2017 est.)
Net migration rate
- 11.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)
Sex ratio
- At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
- Under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
- 15–24 years: 1.47 male(s)/female
- 25–54 years: 3.2 male(s)/female
- 55–64 years: 2.93 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over: 1.69 male(s)/female
- Total population: 2.18 male(s)/female (2016 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
- Total population:
- 77.5 years
- Male: 74.8 years
- Female: 80.2 years (2016 est.)
Total fertility rate
- 1.75 children born/woman (2016 est.)
Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)
- Male: 12 deaths/1,000 births
- Female: 8.5 deaths/1,000 births
- Total: 10.3 deaths/1,000 births (2016 est.)
Citizenship
- Noun: Emirati(s)
- Adjective: Emirati
Dependency ratio
- Youth dependency ratio: 16.4%
- Elderly dependency ratio: 1.3%
- Total dependency ratio: 17.8%
- Potential support ratio: 74.6% (2015 est.)
See also
References
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- "United Arab Emirates". World Gazetteer. Archived from the original on 3 July 2009.
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- "Demographic Yearbook". UN Data. United Nations. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- "United Arab Emirates in 2030: The Future Demographic" is now available at Fast Market Research. (2013, June 16). UKPRwire. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/anonymous?id=GALE%5B%5DA334781206
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- http://www.geoba.se/population.php?pc=world&type=15
- "World Population Prospects – Population Division – United Nations". Archived from the original on 2016-09-19. Retrieved 2017-07-15.
- Snoj, Jure (April 12, 2015). "UAE´s population - by nationality". bq Magazine. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
- "The UAE is going to start taking in Syrian refugees - What's On Dubai". 29 September 2016.
- https://elecciones1.registraduria.gov.co/pre_pres_2018/resultados/html/resultados.html
- "Middle East :: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES". CIA The World Factbook.
- Christensen, Shane (2010). Frommer's Dubai. John Wiley & Sons. p. 174. ISBN 978-0470711781.
- "Lari language".
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