Foreigners make up approximately 90% of the Qatar population, according to a report in a Qatar based publication based on the figures of the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS).
A report on the country’s labour force released by the MDPS in the third quarter of 2015 said 78% of the country’s population was active. (which includes only those above 15 years). In the active population, there were 191,665 Qatari people (which included 93,886 males and 97,779 females). Among the active nationals, nearly 100,000 (99,923) were considered economically active whereas 91,742 were referred to as economically inactive.
The MDPS studies have found 68% of the Qatari males and 36% females above 15 years as economically active.
Of the economically inactive Qatari males, majority were either classified as students or retired, it said, while among women the group included students and home makers.
The report said 98% of the non-Qatari population male and 65% of the non-Qatari female population was economically active.
The total number of unemployed Qataris, ie, those looking for employment was 780.
The 2015 studies also indicated that in the five years between 2010 and 2015 there was a growth of approximately 700,000 in the country’s population. Of them, nearly 530,000 were males.
It is also expected that the country’s population is expected to peak at the start of next year (2017) but is likely to decline from the later period of the first half of the year itself. The report attributes the expected fall to such factors as budget cuts and reduced revenues from oil and gas among other reasons. It also makes reference to the prioritisation taking place in the infrastructural projects and slowing down in the construction activities.
According to a MDPS report, the country’s population stood at 2.587mn at the end of May 2016. There was a rise of 9% compared to the population figures of the corresponding month last year, it said.