Demographics of the United Arab Emirates

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Demographics of United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates single age population pyramid 2020.png
Population pyramid of the United Arab Emirates in 2020
Population11.027.129 (2024 est.)
Growth rate0.58% (2022 est.)
Birth rate10.81 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate1.56 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy79.56 years
 • male78.21 years
 • female80.99 years
Fertility rate1.46 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate5.14 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate3.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years14.45%
15–64 years83.65%
65 and over1.90%
Sex ratio
Total2.21 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth1.06 male(s)/female
Under 151.06 male(s)/female
65 and over1.86 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality Emirati
Major ethnic
Minor ethnic
Language
Official Arabic
SpokenArabic, English, Punjabi, Hindi–Urdu, Malayalam, Pashto, Tagalog, Persian

Demographic features of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) include population density, vital statistics, immigration and emigration data, ethnicity, education levels, religions practiced, and languages spoken within the UAE.

Contents

The majority of the population comes from South Asia, and is predominantly Muslim. [1]

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±% 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%
2018 9,599,353 [2] +1.89%
Sources: [3] [4]

The United Arab Emirates experienced a significant population increase in recent years as a result of major economic growth. This led to an influx of workers from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds, increasing the population from 4 million in 2004 to roughly 8 million in 2009. [5] As of 2020, foreigners represent 88.1% of the population, [6] the second largest proportion of expats in the world in relation to the nationals after the Vatican. As of 2015, the largest group of non-UAE nationals are South Asian 59.4% (Indians 38.2%, Bangladeshi 9.5%, Pakistani 9.4%, and others 2.3%), Egyptian 10.2%, Filipino 6.1%, and other 12.8%. [7]

Female citizens and non-citizens account for 28% percent of the UAE's population due to the high level of male foreign workers. [8] The majority of the UAE population is between 25 and 54 years old. A large part of this can be attributed to the expatriate worker population who fall in the age category. [9] Population is heavily concentrated to the northeast on the Musandam Peninsula. The three largest Emirates (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah), are home to nearly 85% of the population. [10]

As of 2022 the population of the UAE stood at 9.4 million, [5] with 69% being male and 31% female. [11] [12] [13] The country's total fertility rate (TFR) was 1.46, while that of the Emirati citizen population was 3.1, significantly higher than the national average, though reflecting a 16% decline from 3.7 in 2015. [14] In 2024 the population density of the Emirates has reached a record 114 per km2. [15]

EmirateCensus 1975Census 1985Census 1995Census 2005Est. 2010
Abu Dhabi 211,812566,036942,4631,399,484
Dubai 183,187370,788689,4201,321,453
Sharjah 78,790228,317402,792793,573
Ajman 16,69054,546121,491206,997
Umm Al-Quwain 6,90819,28535,36149,159
Ras Al-Khaimah 43,84596,578143,334210,063
Fujairah 16,65543,75376,180125,698
Total557,8871,379,3032,411,0414,106,4277,512,000 (UN) [16]
8,190,000 (NBS) [17]

Age structure

UAE Census (05/12/2005)
Age groupMaleFemaleTotal%
Total2 806 1411 300 2864 106 427100
0-4145 601136 538282 1396.87
5-9139 929129 453269 3826.56
10-14130 778118 279249 0576.07
15-19121 388110 838232 2265.66
20-24272 036161 530433 56610.56
25-29483 657178 137661 79416.12
30-34489 879150 482640 36115.59
35-39386 762113 844500 60612.19
40-44262 71878 543341 2618.31
45-49174 45951 311225 7705.50
50-54107 33931 539138 8783.38
55-5951 30315 80467 1071.63
60-6418 8208 52727 3470.67
65-699 1725 28514 4570.35
70-745 3914 0139 4040.23
75-792 4401 8374 2770.10
80-841 5371 4392 9760.07
85+1 2501 1652 4150.06
unknown1 6821 7223 4040.08
Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercent
0-14416 308384 270800 57819.50
15-642 366 679898 8333 265 51279.52
65+21 47215 46136 9330.90
[18]

Vital statistics

UN estimates

PeriodLive births per yearDeaths per yearNatural change per yearCBRCDRNCTFRIMR
1950–19554,0002,0002,00049.420.828.66.97175
1955–19604,0002,0003,00049.318.031.36.97156
1960–19655,0002,0004,00046.313.233.26.87120
1965–19708,0002,0006,00041.28.732.56.7777
1970–197512,0002,00010,00032.66.426.26.3651
1975–198023,0004,00019,00029.14.624.55.6636
1980–198536,0004,00032,00030.53.726.85.2325
1985–199045,0005,00040,00028.43.125.44.8317
1990–199548,0005,00042,00023.02.520.43.8812
1995–200049,0006,00043,00018.12.116.02.9710
2000–200557,0006,00051,00016.21.714.42.388
2005–201081,0008,00073,00014.01.412.61.867
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 [16]

Registered births and deaths

YearPopulationLive birthsDeathsNatural increaseCrude birth rateCrude death rateRate of natural increaseTFR
1976646,90021,39433.1
1977748,10023,11930.9
1978852,20027,64532.4
1979952,00031,68533.3
19801,042,00034,77433.4
19811,121,00038,54734.4
19821,190,00041,96135.3
19831,253,00043,41934.7
19841,318,00043,70433.2
19851,391,00044,19231.8
19861,472,00045,4603,22242,23830.92.228.7
19871,561,00047,7033,23144,47230.62.128.5
19881,656,00050,8363,44747,38930.72.128.6
19891,756,00051,9033,64048,26329.62.127.5
19901,860,00052,2643,93848,32628.12.126.0
19911,970,00049,4964,02645,47025.42.023.4
19922,087,00050,6044,27146,33324.22.022.2
19932,207,00050,1974,34245,85522.72.020.7
19942,329,00052,4404,58447,85622.52.020.5
19952,449,00048,5674,77943,78819.82.017.8
19962,571,00047,0504,78542,26518.31.916.4
19972,700,00046,3604,87841,48217.21.815.4
19982,838,00048,1365,03343,10317.01.815.2
19992,988,00049,6595,19444,46516.61.714.9
20003,155,00053,6865,39648,29017.01.715.3
20013,326,00056,1365,77750,35916.91.715.2
20023,507,00058,0705,99452,07516.61.714.9
20033,742,00061,1656,00255,16316.31.614.7
20044,088,00063,1136,12356,99015.41.513.9
20054,580,00064,6236,36158,26214.11.412.7
20065,242,00062,9606,48356,47712.01.210.8
20076,044,00067,6777,41460,26311.21.210.0
20086,894,00068,7797,75561,0249.91.18.8
20097,666,00076,3667,78968,57710.01.09.0
20108,271,00079,6257,41472,2119.60.98.7
20118,672,00083,9507,35076,6009.70.88.9
20128,900,00089,5787,70281,87610.10.99.2
20139,006,00093,5398,01588,52410.40.99.5
20149,071,00095,8608,26587,59510.60.99.7
20159,154,00097,3288,75588,57310.61.09.6
20169,121,20098,2998,98889,31110.81.09.8
20179,304,27797,7388,82688,91210.50.99.6
20189,366,82895,3098,79486,51510.20.99.3
20199,503,73894,6979,00685,69110.01.09.0
20209,282,41097,57210,35787,21510.51.19.4
20219,861,00792,77711,91180,8669.71.28.51.494
202210,288,94696,63111,76284,8699.41.18.31.611
202310,678,556101,08811,51489,5749.51.18.4

[19] [20]

millionyear0246810121970198019902000201020202030population (million)United Arab Emirates Population
See or edit source data.
‰years51015202530198019902000201020202030Natural change (per 1000)United Arab Emirates Population Change
See or edit source data.

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth in the United Arab Emirates Life expectancy in the United Arab Emirates.svg
Life expectancy at birth in the United Arab Emirates
PeriodLife expectancy in
Years		PeriodLife expectancy in
Years
1950–195543.91985–199070.7
1955–196049.61990–199572.2
1960–196554.71995–200073.6
1965–197059.62000–200574.8
1970–197563.42005–201075.9
1975–198066.42010–201576.7
1980–198568.8201978 [21]

Source: UN World Population Prospects [22]

Ethnic groups

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. [23]

Source: United Arab Emirates Population Statistics [24]

Estimate of the ethnicity of the population in UAE
  1. Indians 27.49 (23.4%)
  2. Pakistanis 12.69 (10.8%)
  3. Emiratis 11.48 (9.78%)
  4. Bangladeshis 7.4 (6.30%)
  5. Filipinos 5.56 (4.73%)
  6. Iranians 4.76 (4.05%)
  7. Egyptians 4.23 (3.60%)
  8. Nepalese/Sri Lankans 3.17 (2.70%)
  9. Chinese 2.11 (1.80%)
  10. Others 38.55 (32.8%)

Languages

Multicultural signboard featuring English, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu. Multicultural board in the UAE featuring various different languages.jpg
Multicultural signboard featuring English, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu.
Most spoken languages in the UAE (>100k users) [57]
LanguageNumber of speakers (all users)
Gulf Arabic 3,480,000
Modern Standard Arabic 3,090,000
Malayalam 1,060,000
South Levantine Arabic 499,000
Tamil 455,000
Northern Pashto 379,000
Southern Balochi 379,000
Hejazi Arabic 370,000
Kannada 337,000
Tagalog 303,000
Omani Arabic 303,000
Iranian Persian 303,000
Egyptian Arabic 284,000
French language 250,000
Eastern Punjabi 201,000
Southern Pashto 144,000
North Levantine Arabic 127,000
Sinhala 121,000
Sindhi 102,000

Arabic is the official language. [58] English is the most used language amongst expatriates and in business. Arabic is the main medium of instruction at all levels of schooling in government schools, while English is taught as a second language and used for teaching technical or scientific subjects. Private schools can follow a different curriculum (British, American, French, Pakistani, etc.) and use a different language. [59] [60]

Emirati people speak Gulf Arabic. [61] The Achomi language (Persian dialect) is also spoken by a 303,000 people in the UAE. [62] [63]

Other languages spoken in the UAE, due to immigration, include other Arabic dialects (such as Levantine Arabic), Malayalam (1,060,000 speakers in the UAE [63] ), Hindi–Urdu, Marathi, Persian, Cebuano, Pashto (144,000 speakers in the UAE [63] ), Kannada, Bengali (337,000 speakers in the UAE [63] ), Punjabi (201,000 speakers in the UAE [63] ), Odia, Telugu, Baluchi and Southern Baluchi (379,000 speakers in the UAE [63] ), Sinhala (121,000 speakers in the UAE [63] ), Russian, Ukrainian, Somali, Tagalog (303,000 speakers in the UAE [63] ), Nepali, Mandarin, Tamil (455,000 speakers in the UAE [63] ), Spanish, Italian and Greek.

In 2019, Abu Dhabi included Hindi as third official court language. [64] [65] Currently, the UAE government provides lectures and tests to obtain a driving license in Urdu, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Bengali, besides Arabic and English. [66]

Religions

This section is an excerpt from Religion in the United Arab Emirates.[ edit ]
Religion in the United Arab Emirates (2020 estimate) [67]
  1. Islam (Official) (74.5%)
  2. Christianity (12.9%)
  3. Hinduism (6.20%)
  4. Buddhism (3.20%)
  5. Agnosticism (1.30%)
  6. Others (1.90%)

See also

References

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  2. ↑ "United Arab Emirates Population (2018)". www.worldometers.info.
  3. ↑ "UAE National Bureau of Statistics" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2013.
  4. ↑ "United Arab Emirates". World Gazetteer.[ dead link ]
  5. 1 2 "World Bank Open Data". World Bank Open Data. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
  6. ↑ "International Migration 2020 Highlights" (PDF). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. 2020.
  7. ↑ "The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  8. ↑ Kemp, Linzi J. (2013). "Progress in female education and employment in the United Arab Emirates towards Millennium Development Goal (3): gender equality". Foresight. 15 (4): 264–277. doi:10.1108/fs-02-2012-0007.
  9. ↑ "UAE Population Statistics in 2018 (Infographics) | GMI". Official GMI Blog. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  10. ↑ "United Arab Emirates", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 2024-05-07, retrieved 2024-05-14
  11. ↑ "Population and demographic mix - The Official Portal of the UAE Government". u.ae. Retrieved 2023-03-08.
  12. ↑ "UAE Population Statistics 2022-2023". Digital Gravity. 2022-09-23. Retrieved 2023-03-08.
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  14. ↑ "Fertility Rates". UAE.Stat Data Explorer. Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority; Ministry of Health and Prevention. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
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  16. 1 2 "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". esa.un.org. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
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  45. 1 2 Expatriates in the United Arab Emirates
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  62. ↑ "Lari language".
  63. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 United Arab Emirates, on Ethnologue
  64. ↑ Abu Dhabi includes Hindi as third official court language
  65. ↑ UAE introduces Hindi as third official language
  66. ↑ Not about numbers: Why Abu Dhabi labour court chose Hindi over Malayalam
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  70. ↑ US State Dept 2022 report
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