Monday, Apr 02, 2012
Gulf News
Dubai The emirate continues to attract thousands of people daily as latest statistics released by the Dubai Statistics Centre (DSC) show a significant increase in the population in the last few months.
The population clock on the DSC website yesterday showed an increase of 27,000 people since the end of 2011, when the clock hit the two million mark.
Though Dubai’s actual current population might be around two million, the number of people in the city during daytime exceeds three million, indicating that Dubai is head and shoulders above other emirates in terms of job opportunities and quality of services.
More opportunities
“The floating population of such a high proportion suggests that Dubai continues to provide the best opportunities in terms of work, while at the same time it offers world class services which are not so readily available in other emirates or in other parts of the region,” said Professor Mohammad Dulaimi, Associate Professor at the British University in Dubai (BuiD), who is an expert in sustainable and strategic development.
The latest figures also revealed that nearly 40 per cent of the population is young, between the ages of 25 and 34, and less than one per cent are above 60.
“This is positive information, indicating that the economy is being driven by young people,” he added.
The only alarming fact indicated by the data is that an overwhelming majority (76.7 per cent) of the population is male, highlighting the emirate’s over-reliance on foreign labour.
This fact is substantiated by the numbers, which suggest that Muhaisna 2 (163,238), Jebel Ali Industrial Area 1 (109,167) and Al Quoz Industrial Area (96,344), the areas that are known to be predominantly populated by labourers, top the list of districts with the highest populations.
By Shafaat Shahbandari?Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.
