Tuesday August 4  2009

The UAE is maintaining its population will jump by 6.3 percent to more than 5 million by the end of this year in the face of an economic slump that has seen thousands lose their lose and leave the country.

UAE daily Emirates Business reported on Tuesday the number of people living in the country will grow by around 300,000 in 2009 to 5.066 million, from 4.765 million at the end of 2008, citing figures from the Economy Ministry released the previous day.

The figures are the same as those released by the ministry in May.

The ministry said the national population will increase to 923,000 this year from 892,000 in 2008, while the expatriate population will rise to 4.143 million from 3.873 million.
 
In Dubai, the population will surge around about 7.8 per cent to 1.722 million by the end of the year, compared to 1.596 million at the end of 2008, the ministry said.

Abu Dhabi will see a 4.4 percent rise in its population to 1.628 million from 1.559 million, the ministry said.

The figures are the complete opposite of what almost all analysts are forecasting.

The global financial crisis has battered the UAE economy, and especially that of Dubai.

The real estate industry has ground to a halt, economic growth has slowed, thousands of expatriates have lost their jobs and several government-related companies are struggling to pay their debts.

EFG-Hermes  has projected the UAE population will decline 5.5 percent in 2009 led by a 17 percent drop in Dubai as thousands leave the Gulf state amid mounting job losses.

Swiss bank UBS has forecast Dubai's population will likely fall 10 percent in the coming two years.

UAE Labour Minister Saqr Ghobash even told the U.N. in June that the government expects a slowdown in the number of workers coming into the country and an increase in the number leaving.

Ghobash had earlier refuted forecasts by economists that the UAE's population will decline this year.

Source: Maktoob