In 2018, the majority of the expatriates residing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hailed from India, with a population size of around 2.6 million. The expatriate population made up the vast majority of the country’s total population, at around 89 percent as of 2018.

 UAE Economy 

With a real gross domestic product growth rate of 1.7 percent in 2018, the UAE is one of the biggest economies in the region. (1143018) Since its discovery of oil in the mid 90’s, the country has transformed and has become a regional hub. It has demonstrated significant growth in various economics sectors, driven by the country’s shift in focus from the hydrocarbons sector. (1143358) Along with low levels of unemployment, this has led to the influx of workers from diverse nationalities.

 Migration figures

The UAE is one of the top countries worldwide to attract global talent. (1039195) In 2018, around a quarter of million people migrated from the Philippines to work in the UAE. (880782) In comparison, the number of Indonesian workers amounted to less than 0.6 thousand in 2019.

According to a survey in February 2022, the average age of expatriates living in Bahrain was about 44.2 years. During the same time, the average age of expatriates in the United Arab Emirates was 39.5 year.

Four countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) were among the top twenty in the global Working Abroad Index ranking. The top three, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, also have the biggest economies in the council and rank among the highest in the world in expatriate quality of life. The ranking was conducted among 53 countries worldwide and is an aggregate of four factors. These factors include career prospects, salary and job security, work and leisure, and work culture and satisfaction. Kuwait was near the bottom of the list, both among GCC countries and globally, ranking 48th. Dependency on foreign workforce The share of expatriate workers in the GCC outweighs that of local workers, making the region heavily reliant on foreign workers. A high portion of the expat workers in the GCC come from Asia and work in both skilled and unskilled professions. These foreign workers not only supplement the local economy, but also send billions of U.S. dollars back each year in remittances to their home countries. Additionally, many international companies, foreign universities, research institutions, as well as domestically grown tech startups are run by foreign nationals. Policy reforms for expat working conditions Recent initiatives and policy changes have been introduced in the council to improve working conditions for foreign workers. These include addressing long-standing gaps in worker rights through Saudi Arabia’s Workers Wage Protection System, following in the footsteps of the UAE and Qatar, which have similar systems in place. Additionally, some countries, like the UAE, have announced various new visa options, which are aimed at offering more flexibility to expatriates who want to live and settle in the country. An example of this is the Golden Visa, which is valid for periods of ten years, or the recent rollout of a freelance visa for self-employed entrepreneurs similar to that offered by many European countries. On the other end, Saudi Arabia’s workforce localization initiatives have been taking steps to train their own citizens and encourage both men and women to play a more active role in the economy.

As of 2018, the demographic group of 30 to 34-year-olds in the Emirate of Dubai was above 572 thousand people. Considering that the total population of the Emirate of Dubai was estimated to be around 2.8 million people in 2020, the above-mentioned age bracket is a substantial share of Dubai’s society.

  In the context of the United Arab Emirates  

Dubai is the most populous region in the United Arab Emirates, followed by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi the United Arab Emirates was the second largest country amongst the Gulf Cooperation Council countries with almost ten million people, behind Saudi Arabia with a population thrice the size. The United Arab Emirates has about 6.4 million male and 2.9 million female inhabitants altogether.

 Expats and Emirati   

When discussing the demographic composition of this region, the gender imbalance is not the only demographic skewness experienced in the United Arab Emirates, particularly in its Dubai region. Additionally, foreign workers and expatriates significantly outnumber the indigenous population. Only an estimated 1.1 million people in the United Arab Emirates are nationals of their country. The majority of the expatriate’s hail from the subcontinent. In terms of the working population of the United Arab Emirates, 68 percent of men and 66 percent of women in the labor force are from Asia.

 Outlook   

The population density of the UAE is continuing to grow, though the urban population growth of the UAE had slowed down considerably.

The statistic shows the total population of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 2019 to 2029. In 2023, approximately 10.68 million inhabitants lived in the UAE. Population of the United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE) have undergone extreme demographic changes over the past decade. With the increasing developments, tourism and global recognition of cities in the UAE like Abu Dhabi and Dubai, it is to no surprise that the total population has grown by about 6 million people over the past decade. However, the majority of the total population of the UAE are expatriates. Any expatriate having lived in the UAE for a minimum of 20 years can apply for a citizenship, consequently, the growing total population is mainly due to the growing number of expatriates who become citizens and the high number of immigrants which gives the UAE the world’s highest net migration rate. This becomes evident when looking at the fertility rate, the average rate of children born per fertile woman in a year in the UAE, which has been steadily declining over the last decade. Life expectancy, however, has been increasing steadily over the same time span. It is interesting to note that, despite this increase, total population of the UAE consists mainly of people between the ages of 15 to 64, another fact pointing towards expatriates and immigrants contributing to the increasing numbers.

The statistic shows the trade balance of goods (exports minus imports of goods) in the Mashriq countries in 2023. The Mashriq, also Mashreq, is the region encompassing the eastern part of the Arab World, comprising the countries Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. A positive value means a trade surplus, a negative trade balance means a trade deficit. In 2023, the trade surplus of goods in Saudi Arabia amounted to about 111.23 billion U.S. dollars.

This statistic shows the degree of urbanization in the Mashriq countries in 2023. The Mashriq, also Mashreq, is the region encompassing the eastern part of the Arab World, comprising the countries Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Urbanization is defined as the share of urban population in the total population. In 2023, 92.02 percent of the total population of Jordan lived in urban areas.

This statistic shows the percentage of the population of select major cities who were foreign-born in 2015. In 2015, 83 percent of the population of Dubai were born outside of the United Arab Emirates,

This statistic shows the life expectancy at birth in the Mashriq countries in 2022. The Mashriq, also Mashreq, is the region encompassing the eastern part of the Arab World, comprising the countries Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. In 2022, the average life expectancy at birth in Lebanon was 74.42 years.

This statistic depicts the average monthly salary of Asian, Arab, and Western expatriates in the United Arab Emirates in 2017, by sector. During the surveyed period, Western CEOs working in multinational companies earned about 36,700 U.S. dollars per month in the United Arab Emirates.

In 2020, the number of marriage cases in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reached 17.7 thousand cases, up from 16.2 thousand cases in 2015. The number of divorce cases in the UAE amounted to 4.2 thousand in 2020.

This statistic describes the distribution of employed African foreigners in Dubai in 2015, by occupation category. As of 2015, 69.3 percent of the African foreigners in Dubai were occupied as plant and machine operator and assembler.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) had over 3.5 million overseas Indians residing in the country as of May 2024. Saudi Arabia had the second-highest Indian population among other GCC countries. 25 percent of overseas Indians reside in GCC countries. GCC, or the Gulf Cooperation Council, is a group of six nations – Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.

In 2021, the total number of non-national employed workers in the private sector of the United Arab Emirates totaled to around 4.9 million workers. It slightly increased in comparison to the previous year at 4.79 million.

In 2023, the unemployment rate in the United Arab Emirates was at 2.15 percent of the total labor force. The unemployment rate depicts the share of a country's labor force without jobs but available and actively seeking employment. The United Arab Emirates’ unemployment rate is quite low, and the region has one of lowest amounts of unemployed persons worldwide. Oil-based economyOne of the most important economic centers of Western Asia, the United Arab Emirates’ gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to around 424.64 billion U.S. dollars in 2018. The United Arab Emirates’ economy is particularly reliant on oil exports, and it holds the seventh-largest proved oil reserves. Most reserves are located in Abu Dhabi in a combination of offshore and onshore locations. UAE populationDue to the profitable nature of the petroleum industry and a relatively small population, the country has one of the highest GDP per capita rates in the world, at over 40,700 U.S. dollars in 2018. The country’s population is mostly comprised of expatriate workers, the majority of whom who have cultural backgrounds from South Asia, Egypt, and the Philippines. Most of the country’s population fall between the ages of 15 and 64 years.

As of 2024, there were a total of over 3.5 million Indians living in the United Arab Emirates. Out of this population, the majority were Non-Resident Indians.

2021 saw the highest level of divorce cases registered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since 2009. Since 2009, divorce figures in the country primarily hovered around four thousand, peaking at around 4,800 and 4,900 in 2014 and 2015, respectively. 2012 saw the lowest number of divorces, with approximately 3,900 cases. Marriage in the UAE has a pragmatic legal system governing issues such as divorce. Due to its high expat non-Muslim population, it has adapted its judicial system to better serve its diverse communities. Previously, both Muslim and non-Muslim residents were subject to the country’s Islamic courts in matters pertaining to divorce. This changed with the new federal Civil Personal Status Law, which came into effect in February 2023. The recent rise in divorce cases is in line with the overall trend of divorce cases in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This trend is understandable, as the number of marriage contracts in the UAE has also increased significantly in the past few years. Social change in the region Social dynamics in the region are seeing visible changes. Recently, countries in the GCC have gradually loosened restrictions traditionally placed on women. The UAE was already at the forefront of this transition, with women playing an active role in both the public and private sectors. More recently, countries like Saudi Arabia have seen a notable increase in the participation of women in the economy. This, however, presents new challenges, such as a discrepancy in average wages between men and women which, as in many other developed economies, remains a lingering issue.