Middle East expat ‘crisis’ as thousands abandon Dubai | World | News
Dubai’s population, relative to many countries in the Western world, is growing at a healthy rate. However, since 2018 the graph demonstrating the emirate’s population explosion has started to get a little less steep.
According to World Population Review, Dubai’s population has swelled by 300,000 over the last six years – mostly down to expat arrivals.
However, in the six years from 2012 to 2018, the population climbed at a much faster rate – it grew by 700,000. Again, mostly thanks to expats.
This has led some reports to suggest Dubai has an expat “crisis”, with potential new citizens daunted by the high cost of living.
At the same time, Qatar, a Gulf state only an hour flight away from Dubai, has seen its population growth slow too.
From 2018 to 2024, the host nation of the 2022 Fifa World Cup, has seen its number of citizens grow by 200,000.
Comparing the figures from 2012 to 2018 reveals the scale of the slowdown. In just six years, the population soared from 1.9 million to 2.8 million.
Notwithstanding the population rate stalling during the Covid crisis, the slowing number of expat arrivals will concern the ruling Al Thani family.
So why have expat arrivals hit the relative buffers? In Dubai, one explanation is that expats have been put off relocating or forced to leave due to spiralling rental rates.
In the year to April 2024, rental values blew up more than 20 percent across the board, with apartment rental rates soaring by nearly 22 percent, and villas increasing by 13 percent.
However, given that this is a recent development, it does not fully explain the exodus since 2018. One expert says the cost of living in general, not just in the context of property, is to blame for Dubai’s diminishing appeal.
“The nature of Dubai is changing,” UAE businessman Metin Mitchell told Alarabiya News. “This is becoming a super dynamic economy again, but it’s also becoming more of a Monaco, servicing the needs of affluent and high-net-worth people.”
In Qatar, the picture is different. To construct the stadia and facilities required to put on the 2022 World Cup, the tiny country recruited thousands of migrant workers, many of which were subjected to appalling conditions, according to human rights groups.
The Guardian previously reported that, since Qatar was awarded the World Cup in 2010, some 6,500 South Asian migrant workers died in the country.
Now that the showpiece football competition is long since in the rearview mirror, Qatar’s population growth has slumped.
According to the International Monetary Fund’s forecasts, Qatar’s population is expected to decline by about 1.2 percent year-on-year and shrink to 2.5 million from 3 million by 2027.
