Demographics of the United Arab Emirates

Template:Short description Template:Multiple issues Template:Infobox place demographics 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.

The majority of the population comes from South Asia, and is predominantly Muslim.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Population

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 11.35 million in 2024.<ref name="World Bank Open Data">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> As of 2024, foreigners represent 88.50% of the population,<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the third largest proportion of expats in the world in relation to the nationals after Qatar and the Vatican. As of 2024, the largest group of non-UAE nationals are South Asian 68.36% (Indians 37.96%,Pakistanis 16.72%, Bangladeshis 7.38% and others 6.3%), Filipinos 6.1%, Iranians 4.72%, Egyptians 4.23% and other 2.16%.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0" />

Female citizens and non-citizens account for 36.20% percent of the UAE's population due to the high level of male foreign workers.<ref name="emeraldinsight.com">Template:Cite journal</ref> The majority of the UAE population is between 25 and 54 years old 64.12%.<ref name=":0" /> A large part of this can be attributed to the expatriate worker population who fall in the age category.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Population is heavily concentrated to the northeast on the Musandam Peninsula. The three largest Emirates (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah), are home to nearly 83% of the population.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref name=":0" />

As of 2024 the population of the UAE stood at 11.35 million,<ref name=":0" /> with 63.80% being male and 36.20% female.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2024 the population density of the Emirates has reached a record 114 per km².<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Emirate	Census 1975	Census 1985	Census 1995	Census 2005	Est. 2025
Abu Dhabi	211,812	566,036	942,463	1,399,484	3,789,860
Dubai	183,187	370,788	689,420	1,321,453	3,943,683
Sharjah	78,790	228,317	402,792	793,573	1,808,000
Ajman	16,690	54,546	121,491	206,997	504,846
Umm Al-Quwain	6,908	19,285	35,361	49,159	49,159
Ras Al-Khaimah	43,845	96,578	143,334	210,063	400,000
Fujairah	16,655	43,753	76,180	125,698	316,790
Total	557,887	1,379,303	2,411,041	4,106,427	11,350,000.<ref name=":0" />[

Age structure

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

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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<ref name="wpp2010">Template:Cite web</ref>

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
2024	11,294,243		12,741			1.1

<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Chart Template:Chart

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<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Source: UN World Population Prospects<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ethnic groups

Template:Main 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.<ref name="Snoj 2015">Template:Cite web</ref>

Source: United Arab Emirates Population Statistics<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Nationals of	Population	% of total population	Year of data
Template:Flag	4,360,000<ref name=":0" />	38.45%	2025
Template:Flag	1,900,000<ref name=":0" />	16.72%	2025
Template:Flag	1,310,000<ref name=":0" />	11.50%	2025
Template:Flag	840,000<ref name=":0" />	7.38%	2025
Template:Flag	780,000<ref name=":0" />	6.89%	2025
Template:Flag*	540,000<ref name=":0" />	4.72%	2025
Template:Flag*	480,000<ref name=":0" />	4.23%	2025
Template:Flag	360,000<ref name=":0" />	3.15%	2022
Template:Flag	360,000<ref name=":0" />	3.15%	2022
Template:Flag	224,118	2.21%	2022
Template:Flag	240,000<ref name=":0" />	2.16%	2025
Template:Flag	200,000	2.09%	2015
Template:Flag	150,000	1.57%	<2011
Template:Flag	150,000	1.57%	2009
Template:Flag	150,000	1.57%	2018
Template:Flag	120,000	1.26%	2020 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Flag	107,000	1.09%	2015
Template:Flag	100,000	1.04%	2014
Template:Flag*	100,000	1.04%	2015
Template:Flag	100,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1.04%	2019
Template:Flag	90,000	0.94%	2014
Template:Flag	90,000	0.94%	2013
Template:Flag	85,000	0.89%	2015
Template:Flag	75,000	0.78%	2013
Template:Flag	70,000	0.73%	2014
Template:Flag	70,000	0.73%	2015
Template:Flag	60,000<ref>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-16/uae-banks-chase-turkey-opportunity-with-multimillion-dollar-loans</ref>		2025
Template:Flag	52,000	0.54%	2014
Template:Flag	50,000-100,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	0.75%	2014
Template:Flag	50,000	0.52%	2015
Template:Flag	40,000	0.42%	2021
Template:Flag	40,000	0.42%	2014
Template:Flag	40,000	0.42%	2014
Template:Flag	39,238<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	0.39%	2016
Template:Flag	30,000	0.30%	2024
Template:Flag	25,000	0.26%	2015
Template:Flag	16,000	0.17%	2015
Template:Flag	14,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	0.14%	2014
Template:Flag	12,000	0.12%	2013
Template:Flag	12,000	0.12%
Template:Flag	12,000	0.11%	2015
Template:Flag	10,000	0.10%	2022
Template:Flag	10,000	0.10%	2014
Template:Flag	10,000	0.10%	2014
Template:Flag	10,000	0.10%	2014
Template:Flag	10,000	0.10%	2014
Template:Flag	10,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	0.10%	2017
Template:Flag	9,000<ref name="V">Template:Cite news</ref>	0.09%	2003
Template:Flag	9,000	0.09%	2024
Template:Flag	8,000	0.08%	2021
Template:Flag	7,000	0.07%	2015
Template:Flag	7,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	0.07%	2013
Template:Flag	6,000 – 7,000	0.06% – 0.07%	2015
Template:Flag	5,500<ref name="ReferenceA">Expatriates in the United Arab Emirates</ref>	0.06%	?
Template:Flag	5,466	0.06%	2018<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>
Template:Flag	5,000 – 6,000	0.05% – 0.06%	2015
Template:Flag	5,000	0.05%	2015
Template:Flag	5,000	0.05%	2015
Template:Flag	5,000	0.05%	2015
Template:Flag	5,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	0.05%	2016
Template:Flag	5,000<ref>Template:In lang Հայերը ԱՄԷ-ում Template:Webarchive. Retrieved 7 July 2012.</ref>	0.05%	2013
Template:Flag	4,000	0.04%	2015
Template:Flag	4,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	0.04%	2014
Template:Flag	4,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="gulfnews.com">Template:Cite web</ref>	0.04%	2012
Template:Flag	3,000 – 4,000	≈0.03%	2015
Template:Flag	3,000 – 3,500	≈0.03%	2014
Template:Flag	3,000	0.03%	2015
Template:Flag	3,000	0.03%	2015
Template:Flag	2,603	≈0.03%	2015
Template:Flag	2,000-3,000	0.02% – 0.03%	2015
Template:Flag	2,500	≈0.03%	2015
Template:Flag	2,500	≈0.03%	2015
Template:Flag	2,500	≈0.03%	2025
Template:Flag	2,500	≈0.03%	2015
Template:Flag	2,430	≈0.03%	2013
Template:Flag	>2,000	≈0.02%	2015
Template:Flag	2,000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	0.02%	2013
Template:Flag	1,000 – 2,000	0.01% – 0.02%	2015
Template:Flag	1,500	≈0.02%	2015
Template:Flag	1,200	≈0.01%	2015
Template:Flag	1,184	≈0.01%	2015
Template:Flag	1,180	≈0.01%	2014
Template:Flag	1,000	≈0.01%	2014
Template:Flag	1,000	≈0.01%	2014
Template:Flag	700 – 800	< 0.01%	2015
Template:Flag	500	< 0.01%	2015
Template:Flag	444	< 0.01%	2015
Template:Flag	400	< 0.01%	2015
Template:Flag	300	< 0.01%	2014
Template:Flag	300	< 0.01%	2015
Template:Flag	270	< 0.01%	2014
Template:Flag	200 – 300	< 0.01%	2015
Template:Flag	200	< 0.01%	2015
Template:Flag	100 – 150	< 0.01%	2015
Template:Flag	100s<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	< 0.01%	2014
Template:Flag	100	< 0.01%	2015

*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%.Template:Citation needed

Languages

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

Most spoken languages in the UAE (>100k users)<ref>United Arab Emirates, Ethnologue</ref>

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.<ref name=constitution_of_the_united_arab_emirates>Constitution of the United Arab Emirates Article 7</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Curricula and language of instruction</ref>

Emirati people speak Gulf Arabic.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Achomi language (Persian dialect) is also spoken by a 303,000 people in the UAE.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Ethnologue"/>

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<ref name="Ethnologue">United Arab Emirates, on Ethnologue</ref>), Hindi–Urdu, Marathi, Persian, Cebuano, Pashto (144,000 speakers in the UAE<ref name="Ethnologue"/>), Kannada, Bengali (337,000 speakers in the UAE<ref name="Ethnologue"/>), Punjabi (201,000 speakers in the UAE<ref name="Ethnologue"/>), Odia, Telugu, Baluchi and Southern Baluchi (379,000 speakers in the UAE<ref name="Ethnologue"/>), Sinhala (121,000 speakers in the UAE<ref name="Ethnologue"/>), Russian, Ukrainian, Somali, Tagalog (303,000 speakers in the UAE<ref name="Ethnologue"/>), Nepali, Mandarin, Tamil (455,000 speakers in the UAE<ref name="Ethnologue"/>), Spanish, Italian and Greek.

In 2019, Abu Dhabi included Hindi as third official court language.<ref>Abu Dhabi includes Hindi as third official court language</ref><ref>UAE introduces Hindi as third official language</ref> Currently, the UAE government provides lectures and tests to obtain a driving license in Urdu, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Bengali, besides Arabic and English.<ref>Not about numbers: Why Abu Dhabi labour court chose Hindi over Malayalam</ref>

See also

• Demographics of Dubai
• Emirati diaspora