GCC population put at 47.4m in 2012

Gulf oil producers had nearly 47.4 million people at the end of 2012, nearly 1.4 million higher than in 2011, according to official data.

The number at the end of 2012 meant that the population of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) grew by nearly three per cent above 2011, when it stood at around 46 million, showed the figures by the Riyadh-based GCC secretariat.

It estimated the population at only about 13.4 million in 1980 before it more than doubled to about 29.9 million in 2000. It surged to 33.8 million in 2005 and nearly 44.1 million at the end of 2010, the report showed.

It gave no breakdown but according to official estimates, Saudi Arabia had by far the largest population of nearly 30 million, followed by the UAE with about eight million.

Kuwait’s population was estimated at 3.4 million at the end of 2013 and Oman’s at 3.3 million. Qatar and Bahrain had about 1.8 and 1.6 million people respectively.

Expatriates are a majority in Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE while they are outnumbered by nationals in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman.

Official data showed expatriates in Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy and world’s top oil exporter, stood at around nine million at the end of 2013. In the UAE, the second largest Arab economy, they were estimated at over 6.5 million.
 

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