Population of the United Arab Emirates

In this article, we will talk about people who live and work in the United Arab Emirates. About those with whom you will definitely have to communicate on vacation, because they are the ones who stand at the reception desks in hotels, drive tourist buses and taxis, and conduct excursions.

Let’s define concepts

Before talking in detail about the population of the United Arab Emirates, we need to decide who we mean by the word “population”? Will we only mean citizens of the country, or will we also take into account visiting workers?

When official sources publish statistics, all people are taken into account: citizens, workers on work visas and citizens of other countries who are on permanent residence. We will stick to this idea.

How many people live in the UAE?

The last official census took place back in 2005. The population in the UAE is growing very fast due to the new labor force from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries.

Then in 2005 they counted 4.1 million people. After the census, the UN made a forecast for 2010 – 7.2 million. At the beginning of 2020, the rough estimate is 9.89 million. We want to note that these and subsequent figures are only a rough estimate, and not official statistics.

However, no one knows how the population has changed in 2020-2021. During and after the first outbreak of coronavirus in March-April 2020, a very interesting phenomenon was observed in the UAE – a mass exodus of visitors. They flew by the thousands on special repatriation flights. How many have flown? Not counted yet.

Many flew away for quite objective reasons – back to their families. Some flew away in the firm belief that the United Arab Emirates would soon come to an end. Such rumors were just actively circulating at that time. Mass psychosis was then observed in all countries of the world.

During the outbreak of the delta strain in mid-2021, a similar phenomenon was observed, but on a much smaller scale. During the omicron outbreak at the beginning of 2022, nothing like this was observed (at least on a significant and noticeable scale).

How did all this affect the composition of the population? It’s hard to say now. So far, there is no official data from the authorities, and it is unlikely that these data will appear in the near future. From official data, there is a statement by the head of the Indian Foreign Ministry, Vellamwelli Muralidharan, dated January 2021, that since May, 1.3 million have flown from the UAE to India, and only 1.15 million have flown back. From these figures, we can conclude that the population of the UAE in 2021 decreased at least due to the Indians.

Reliable figures for the entire population are not yet available. Therefore, for now, we will use the figure of the end of 2019 – 9.89 million. Of course, you can find many other numbers on the Internet, but they are all calculated and conjectural. There are no official statistics, and everyone predicts their numbers.

Distribution by emirates

The most populated Emirate is Dubai, with over 3.5 million people. The population is distributed like this:

• Dubai – 3,700,000
• Abu Dhabi – 3,300,000
• Sharjah – 1,600,000
• Ajman – 500,000
• Ras Al Khaimah – 400,000
• Fujairah – 250,000
• Umm al-Qaiwain – 80,000

Ethnic composition

An interesting fact is that ethnic Arabs and citizens of the UAE are by no means the largest ethnic group in the country. Most of all, Indians live in the country – from 2.5 to 3 million people, Pakistanis are in second place – from 1.2 to 1.5 million.

Citizens are only in third place – there are 1,034,568 of them (the exact figure is available only for 2018). Now (2022) estimated from 1.15 million. Attentive readers have noticed that the number of citizens is calculated with an accuracy of one person, and the data on visitors is approximate. Indeed, citizens in the UAE are under strict control, and no one counts visitors.

In fourth place in terms of numbers are visitors from Bangladesh – from 700 thousand to 1 million, then Filipinos – 500-700 thousand, Iranians and Egyptians – 400-500 thousand, Nepalese and Sri Lankans – 400-500 thousand.

About 50,000 Russians and natives of the former Soviet republics live in the UAE. Considering that almost a million Russians come to the United Arab Emirates on vacation every year, our citizens are in demand in the tourism industry.

Do not be surprised when you do not see an Arab at the hotel reception, citizens do not work in such small positions. Citizens work in the field of government – in banks, police, customs and other government agencies.

Newcomers, in most cases, are engaged in low-paid work. Exceptions are invited managers and employees from Europe. Such a motley ethnic composition makes the demographic statistics in the UAE very interesting.

Features of the composition of the population

In the UAE, there are 2.6 times more men than women. It is for this reason that women are not recommended to go on vacation in the UAE alone. Imagine for a second the gigantic sexual dissatisfaction of the local men. We are not talking about citizens, but about visiting workers. Despite strict Sharia law, there is prostitution in the UAE. The authorities are aware of this, but are not particularly zealous in the fight against this phenomenon.

Cases of sexual violence happen often, but there are very few criminal cases in these cases. The reason is the technology of handling such cases in the police. If a woman claims rape, then evidence is required to initiate a case – beatings. If there are no beatings, then rape is not recorded.

Previously, in such cases, a criminal case was opened against both participants for “sexual relations outside of marriage”, the participants were threatened with up to 2 years in prison. But on November 8, 2020, amendments to the laws came out, according to which now they should not be imprisoned under this article.

Thanks to visitors, the population of the country is very young – 55% of the population are people from 20 to 40 years old. This is natural, because young people are invited to work, the old man will not be invited to work at a construction site.

The birth rate greatly exceeds the death rate. According to the latest statistics for 2018, about 100,000 people were born, about 14,000 died. This is logical, workers are invited to work in the country at a young age, with good health and minimal risks of death.

Visiting workers in the UAE

They are divided into three categories – illegal immigrants, “domestic workers” and workers under the “Kafala Sponsorship System”.

There are not so many illegal immigrants here, the authorities are very actively and successfully catching them. According to official figures, there are about 65,000 illegal immigrants in the country. Unofficial figures reach 135,000. These are people who came on tourist visas and stayed here to work. They work, of course, illegally.

“Domestic workers” are in the country on a work visa. Their position is much better than that of Kafala workers. They can change employers, their rights are better protected, they are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The Kafala system has been operating in the UAE since 1971. Employing companies invite workers from abroad, conclude contracts and bring workers into the country. From the moment when the employee enters the UAE, he is under the responsibility of the employer. Most often, he cannot change employer, he cannot even break the contract and go home.

These workers are in the worst position, they are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Labor. Kafala workers are not protected by labor laws.

International organizations condemn the UAE for the terrible working and living conditions of workers (pictured above, click on the photo to enlarge). And indeed, the working day is not standardized, the workers live in small rooms, often without air conditioning, and the wages are small. You often have to work outdoors, which is difficult in the severe weather in the UAE.

It is these living conditions of workers that played a “cruel joke” with the UAE in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began. In conditions of compact living of people, the virus spread very quickly. In Dubai, the entire Al-Ras district had to be isolated. Ultra-strict measures were introduced, even only one person from the household was allowed to go outside and only once every few days.

On average, a low-skilled worker in the UAE earns about 19,000 dirhams per year (see the exchange rate in our article ” UAE Currency “), which is about 430-450 dollars per month. For a citizen of the UAE, such a salary would be insulting; for Indians and Pakistanis, this is a lot of money.

In 2012, the authorities carried out labor law reforms. In particular, they forbade employers to take passports from workers! That is, until 2012, it was completely legal to take a passport from an employee! Since 2012, the responsibility of the employer for non-payment of wages has appeared, until that moment there was no such responsibility at all.

Workers occasionally organize protest riots. For example, on March 21, 2006, a riot broke out at the construction site of the famous Burj Khalifa . Workers began destroying cars and offices. Naturally, the rebellion was suppressed by the police, all participants were deported and entry into the country was closed forever.

The life of visiting workers is quite difficult, citizens live much better.

UAE citizens

The citizens of the UAE themselves call themselves either Emirati, or Bani Yasi, or Suwaydi, or Al-Shamsi, depending on the origin of a person from a particular tribe. Europeans used to call them Trushaly or Trushal Coasters after the name of the region – Trushal Coast, from English “Treaty Coast”.

The majority of citizens work, only 10% of citizens are unemployed. The state adheres to the policy of Emiratization. Its essence is in the privileged provision of jobs to citizens. That is, a foreign worker takes a place only if there are no willing citizens. And even the employer is obliged to accept a citizen for a position if he wishes, and for a large salary. Such a policy in the UAE is quite official, and the authorities see nothing wrong with this.

Some of our tourists jokingly say that the citizens of the emirates are “snickering” and do not even suspect how close to the truth. In the list of the “thickest” countries in the world, the UAE is in 4th place, behind only Qatar, Kuwait and the United States. Note that the first two countries are also in the Persian Gulf. A little more, and the UAE will overtake the United States and the Arabs of the Persian Gulf will occupy the entire pedestal. By the way, the 5th and 6th places are occupied by two more countries of the Persian Gulf – Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

More than a third of UAE citizens are obese. But unlike the United States, overweight is more common in women here. More than half of women in the United Arab Emirates are obese. When you walk around tourist places, you will notice this.

The causes of the problem of excess weight lie in the culture of the Arabs. The era of oil revenues in the history of the UAE began relatively recently. Up to this point, the Arabs were poor, there was not enough food. Fullness was considered a sign of wealth and power. And until now, they are more positive about being overweight, hence the problem of a national scale.

Citizens enjoy many privileges, most of them in matters of education. From 20 to 25% of the country’s budget is spent on educational purposes. In addition, there are payments, subsidies and interest-free loans to citizens. To put it simply, citizens in the UAE live well, they can not be found in the Dubai metro , everyone has cars.

It is possible to become a citizen, but it is very difficult

The procedure for obtaining citizenship of the United Arab Emirates exists, but only theoretically. Procedures and conditions are regulated by the laws: Federal Law 17 (1972) “On Citizenship and Passports”, Federal Law 10 (1975) “Amendments to Federal Law 17 of 1972”, Decree 16 (2017) “Amendments to Federal Law 17 of 1972”.

To obtain citizenship, you need to live in the United Arab Emirates (any emirate) legally for at least 30 years. In addition, it is necessary not to be convicted of crimes, to know Arabic well, to renounce citizenship (citizens) of other countries.

Next, you need to prove your high legal income and level of education, pass a security check. At the same time, the laws do not determine either the exact level of income or the level of education. That is, ANYONE can refuse without explanation.

Citizenship reform January 30, 2021

On January 30, information about the new reform appeared in the Emirati press. Now citizenship will be given to “talented and useful foreigners for the country” or simply to very rich investors. It also announced the possibility not to renounce the current citizenship.

But for now, these are just words. There are no specifics yet. There are no statistics yet. As soon as there is some practice under these new laws, we will definitely write.