Abu Dhabi population up by 300,000 in 5 years

Abu Dhabi’s population surged by more than 300,000 people over the past five years and more than half of the increase were men, official figures have shown.

From around 1.325 million at the end of 2004, the emirate’s population swelled to nearly 1.643 million at the end of 2009, an increase of around 328,000, showed the figures by the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development.

This means the population recorded an annual growth of around 4.9 per cent, one of the highest population growth rates in the world.

More than half the increase was in the male population, which grew to around 1.068 million at the end of 2009 from 876,914 at the end of 2004, an increase of 191,086. Females increased by 136,229 to 574,585 from 438,356.

At the end of 2009, females accounted for 35 per cent of the emirate’s total population compared with 34.6 per cent at the end of 2008, around 34.3 per cent at the end of 2007 and 34 per cent at the end of 2006. The ratio stood at nearly 33.8 per cent at the end of 2005 and 33.3 per cent at the end of 2004.

The report showed the surge in the population boosted the emirate’s workforce from around 815,311 in 2005 to 919,299 in 2008. It gave no figures for 2009 but put the unemployment rate in 2008 at around 3.25 per cent, one of the lowest jobless levels in the Arab World.
 

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