QNA/Doha

HE the Minister of Development Planning and Statistics, Chairman of the Permanent Population Committee Dr Saleh Mohamed Salem al-Nabit said that the new population policy, to be revealed after one year, will be more in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030 and realistic.
Addressing a press conference yesterday to mark Qatar Population Day 2015, Dr al-Nabit said that the new policy will be based on latest and comprehensive data.
The development of the population policy in 2009 was a great accomplishment as it contributed to raising awareness about the population challenges and the ways to tackle them, the Minister added.
Responding to a question on the demographics in Qatar, Dr al-Nabit said that the subject of demographics is one of the biggest challenges.
He pointed out that the imbalance in the population structure has more than one side, adding that it will continue to exist in the foreseeable future.
He affirmed that efforts are being made to reduce this imbalance and its effects in terms of both gender and the quality of the population.
The imbalance in the population structure is severe in some areas such as the proportion of women to men (100 female against 310 males), the minister said, adding that it is reasonable in other respects, such as unemployment rate, which is the lowest globally, as well as participation in the labour force, which is considered to be a very normal rate.