Demographics of the United Arab Emirates

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.

Demographics of United Arab Emirates
Population pyramid of the United Arab Emirates in 2020
Population	11.027.129 (2024 est.)
Growth rate	0.58% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	10.81 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate	1.56 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy	79.56 years
• male	78.21 years
• female	80.99 years
Fertility rate	1.46 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate	5.14 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	3.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	14.45%
15–64 years	83.65%
65 and over	1.90%
Sex ratio
Total	2.21 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth	1.06 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.06 male(s)/female
65 and over	1.86 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Emirati
Major ethnic	Arabs South Asians Iranians Filipinos
Minor ethnic	Afro-Arabs Britons Chinese
Language
Official	Arabic
Spoken	Arabic, English,Punjabi, Hindi–Urdu, Malayalam, Pashto, Tagalog, Persian

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

Population

Historical 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%
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]

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)[16] 8,190,000 (NBS)[17]

Age structure

UAE Census (05/12/2005)

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

^[18]

Vital statistics

UN estimates

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^[16]

Registered 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	9,304,277	97,738	8,826	88,912	10.5	0.9	9.6
2018	9,366,828	95,309	8,794	86,515	10.2	0.9	9.3
2019	9,503,738	94,697	9,006	85,691	10.0	1.0	9.0
2020	9,282,410	97,572	10,357	87,215	10.5	1.1	9.4
2021	9,861,007	92,777	11,911	80,866	9.7	1.2	8.5	1.494
2022	10,288,946	96,631	11,762	84,869	9.4	1.1	8.3	1.611
2023	10,678,556	101,088	11,514	89,574	9.5	1.1	8.4

^[19][20]

See or edit source data.

See or edit source data.

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth in the United Arab Emirates

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[21]

Source: UN World Population Prospects^[22]

Ethnic groups

Main article: Expatriates in the United Arab Emirates

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%)

Nationals of	Population	% of total population	Year of data
India	2,770,000	27.49%	2022
Pakistan	1,280,000	12.69%	2022
UAE	1,160,000	11.48%	2022
Bangladesh	750,000	7.40%	2022
Philippines	560,000	5.56%	2022
Iran*	480,000	4.76%	2022
Egypt*	430,000	4.23%	2022
Nepal	320,000	3.17%	2022
Sri Lanka	320,000	3.17%	2022
Syria	224,118	2.21%	2022
China	210,000	2.11%	2022
Jordan	200,000	2.09%	2015
Afghanistan	150,000	1.57%	<2011
Palestine	150,000	1.57%	2009
Uganda	150,000	1.57%	2018
United Kingdom	120,000	1.26%	2020 [25]
European Union	107,000	1.09%	2015
South Africa	100,000	1.04%	2014
Lebanon*	100,000	1.04%	2015
Morocco	100,000[26]	1.04%	2019
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
Nigeria	50,000-100,000[27][28]	0.75%	2014
United States	50,000	0.52%	2015
Russia	40,000	0.42%	2021
Canada	40,000	0.42%	2014
Kenya	40,000	0.42%	2014
Turkey	40,000[29][30][31][32][33]	0.42%	2023
Tunisia	39,238[34][35][36][37]	0.39%	2016
Ukraine	30,000	0.30%	2024
France	25,000	0.26%	2015
Australia	16,000	0.17%	2015
Uzbekistan	14,000[38][39]	0.14%	2014
Germany	12,000	0.12%	2013
Ireland	12,000	0.12%
Spain	12,000	0.11%	2015
Romania	10,000	0.10%	2022
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
Comoros	10,000[40][41]	0.10%	2017
Oman	9,000[42]	0.09%	2003
Poland	9,000	0.09%	2024
Netherlands	8,000	0.08%	2021
Azerbaijan	7,000	0.07%	2015
Bulgaria	7,000[43][44]	0.07%	2013
Malaysia	6,000 – 7,000	0.06% – 0.07%	2015
Brazil	5,500[45]	0.06%	?
Colombia	5,466	0.06%	2018[46]
Kazakhstan	5,000 – 6,000	0.05% – 0.06%	2015
Greece	5,000	0.05%	2015
Mauritania	5,000	0.05%	2015
Serbia	5,000	0.05%	2015
Vietnam	5,000[47]	0.05%	2016
Armenia	5,000[48]	0.05%	2013
Sweden	4,000	0.04%	2015
Portugal	4,000[49][50]	0.04%	2014
Kyrgyzstan	4,000[51][52][53]	0.04%	2012
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
Croatia	2,500	≈0.03%	2025
Hungary	2,500	≈0.03%	2015
Switzerland	2,430	≈0.03%	2013
Singapore	>2,000	≈0.02%	2015
Argentina	2,000[54]	0.02%	2013
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
Fiji	100s[55][56]	< 0.01%	2014
Angola	100	< 0.01%	2015
Nicaragua	6[45]	< 0.01%	?

*The figures for the countries cannot be directly sourced to embassy statements.

The UAE population is made of Emirati nationals (11.6%), other Arab and Iranian nationalities (18%), South Asian nationalities (59%) and other expatriate nationalities (includes Westerners, East Asians and Africans) at 12%.^{[citation needed]}

Languages

Multicultural signboard featuring English, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu.

Most spoken languages in the UAE (>100k users)^[57]

Language	Number 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

Main article: Religion in the United Arab Emirates

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%)

Islam is the majority and official religion in the United Arab Emirates, professed by 75% of the population as of 2020. 63% are Sunni, 7% are Shia and 4% follow another branch of Islam.^[67] The royals families of Al Nahyan and Al Maktoum ruling families adhere to the Maliki school of jurisprudence. Many followers of the Hanbali school are found in Sharjah, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Ajman.^[68] Their followers include the Al Qasimi ruling family. The other main religions present in the country include Christianity (13%), Hinduism (6%), and Buddhism (3%).^[67] Zoroastrians, Druze, Baha'i, Judaism, and Sikhism are also practiced by some non-nationals.^[69] 1% of the population is agnostic.^[67]

See also

• Demographics of Dubai
• Emirati diaspora