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 the Middle East. It is predominantly Muslim.

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. As of 2024, foreigners represent 88.50% of the population, 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%.

Female citizens and non-citizens account for 36.20% percent of the UAE's population due to the high level of male foreign workers. The majority of the UAE population is between 25 and 54 years old 64.12%. A large part of this can be attributed to the expatriate worker population who fall in the age category. 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.

As of 2024 the population of the UAE stood at 11.35 million, with 63.80% being male and 36.20% female. 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. In 2024 the population density of the Emirates has reached a record 114 per km2. Emirate Census 1975 Census 1985 Census 1995 Census 2005 Est. 2025 Abu Dhabi 211,812 566,036 942,463 1,399,4843,789,860 Dubai 183,187 370,788 689,420 1,321,4533,943,683 Sharjah 78,790 228,317 402,792 793,5731,808,000 Ajman 16,690 54,546 121,491 206,997504,846 Umm Al-Quwain 6,908 19,285 35,361 49,15949,159 Ras Al-Khaimah 43,845 96,578 143,334 210,063400,000 Fujairah 16,655 43,753 76,180 125,698316,790 Total 557,887 1,379,303 2,411,041 4,106,427 11,350,000.

Age structure

Age groupMaleFemaleTotal% 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 0.08Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercent 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

Vital statistics UN estimates

PeriodLive births per yearDeaths per yearNatural change per yearCBRCDRNCTFRIMR 1950–1955 4,000 2,000 2,00049.420.828.66.97175 1955–1960 4,000 2,000 3,00049.318.031.36.97156 1960–1965 5,000 2,000 4,00046.313.233.26.87120 1965–1970 8,000 2,000 6,00041.28.732.56.7777 1970–1975 12,000 2,000 10,00032.66.426.26.3651 1975–1980 23,000 4,000 19,00029.14.624.55.6636 1980–1985 36,000 4,000 32,00030.53.726.85.2325 1985–1990 45,000 5,000 40,00028.43.125.44.8317 1990–1995 48,000 5,000 42,00023.02.520.43.8812 1995–2000 49,000 6,000 43,00018.12.116.02.9710 2000–2005 57,000 6,000 51,00016.21.714.42.388 2005–2010 81,000 8,000 73,00014.01.412.61.867 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

Registered births and deaths

YearPopulationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rate 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 9,00685,691 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 11,294,243 106,915 12,741 94,174 9.5 1.1 8.3

Life expectancy

PeriodLife expectancy inYearsPeriodLife expectancy inYears1950–195543.91985–199070.71955–196049.61990–199572.21960–196554.71995–200073.61965–197059.62000–200574.81970–197563.42005–201075.91975–198066.42010–201576.71980–198568.8201978 Source: UN World Population Prospects

Nationalities

The UAE government does not publish demographic data regarding nationality. The table below records estimates of various reliable sources.

+ UAE population by nationality Nationals of Population Year of data India 4,300,000 2025 Pakistan 1,700,000 2025 1,310,000 2025 Bangladesh 1,200,000 2024 Philippines 700,000 2026 Iran 600,000 2025 Nepal 450,000 2025 Egypt 400,000 2022 China 370,000 2025 Sri Lanka 300,000 2021 Afghanistan 300,000 2025 Palestine 300,000 2023 Syria 242,0002017 United Kingdom 240,000 2026 Jordan 200,0002024 Ethiopia 200,000 2025 Lebanon 200,000 2025 Sudan 200,000 2023 Uganda 160,000 2024 Russia 150,000 2025 South Africa 100,000 2018 Morocco 100,000 2019 Indonesia 100,000 2019 Nigeria 100,000 2026 Iraq 100,000 2025 Yemen 99,638 2019 Saudi Arabia 85,000 2018 Somalia 80,000–100,000 2018 Turkey 60,000 2025 France 64,000 2026 Canada 60,000 2025 United States 50,000 2018 Kenya 40,000 2025 Tunisia 25,000 2025 Ukraine 30,000 2024 Algeria 30,000 2020 Australia 25,000 2025 Thailand 19,000 2025 Italy 18,671 2024 South Korea 13,000 2019 Brazil 12,000 2022 Germany 10,000 2022

Languages

+ Most spoken languages in the UAE (>100k users)United Arab Emirates, Ethnologue 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 Telugu 485,000 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.Constitution of the United Arab Emirates Article 7 Emirati people speak Gulf Arabic. 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.Curricula and language of instruction Many other languages are spoken in the UAE due to immigration (see table). In 2019, Abu Dhabi included Hindi as third official court language.Abu Dhabi includes Hindi as third official court languageUAE introduces Hindi as third official language Currently, the UAE government provides lectures and tests to obtain a driving license in Urdu, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Bengali, besides Arabic and English.Not about numbers: Why Abu Dhabi labour court chose Hindi over Malayalam

Religions

See also Demographics of Dubai Emirati diaspora

References

pt:Emirados Árabes Unidos#Demografia