Demographics of Qatar

Natives of the Arabian Peninsula, many Qataris (Arabic: سكان قطر‎) are descended from a number of migratory Arab tribes that came to Qatar in the 18th century from mainly the neighboring areas of Nejd and Al-Hasa. Some are descended from Omani tribes. Qatar has about 2.6 million inhabitants as of early 2017, the vast majority of whom (about 92%) live in Doha, the capital.[1] Foreign workers amount to around 88% of the population, with Indians being the largest community numbering around 1,230,000.[2] The treatment of these foreign workers has been heavily criticized in recent years, with living conditions suggested to be exploitative and abusive.[3]

Qatar population pyramid in 2020

The Qataris are mainly Sunni Muslims. Islam is the official religion, and Islamic jurisprudence is the basis of Qatar's legal system. A significant minority of the population is Hindu. Arabic is the official language and English is the lingua franca of business. Hindi and Urdu are also widely spoken, especially by the South Asian foreign workers.[4] Education is compulsory and free for all citizens 6–16 years old. Qatar has an increasingly high literacy rate.

Ethnicity

Ethnic groups in Qatar (2004)[5]
Ethnic groups
Arab			60%
Pakistani			26%
European			14%

Qataris can be divided into three ethnic groups: Bedouins, Hadar, and Afro-Arab. Bedouins are descended from the nomads of the Arabian Peninsula. 115,000[6] Westerners live in Qatar.

Europeans in Qatar

14% of the population is European. They are of British, Portuguese, French, Armenians, African Americans, Russians, Turks, Scandinavians, Other Arabs, and Italians They live in Doha, Al Wakrah, Mesaieed, Al Rayyan, Umm Salal Mohammed, Al Khor, Ar Ru'ays, Al Khuwayr, Dukhan, and Umm Bab.

Population

2002-2017

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1986	369,079	—
1997	522,026	+3.20%
2001	676,498	+6.69%
2003	713,859	+2.72%
2004	744,028	+4.23%
2005	906,123	+21.79%
2006	1,042,947	+15.10%
2007	1,218,250	+16.81%
2008	1,448,479	+18.90%
2009	1,638,626	+13.13%
2010	1,699,435	+3.71%
2011	1,732,717	+1.96%
2012	1,832,903	+5.78%
2013	2,101,288	+14.64%
2014	2,172,065	+3.37%
2015	2,235,355	+2.91%
2016	2,291,368	+2.51%
2017	2,338,085	+2.04%
Source: Qatar Statistics Authority[7]

1950-2010

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1950	25,000	—
1960	47,000	+6.52%
1970	108,000	+8.68%
1980	222,000	+7.47%
1990	474,000	+7.88%
2000	591,000	+2.23%
2010	1,759,000	+11.52%
Source: United Nations[8]

By nationality

A 2011–2014 report by the International Organization for Migration recorded 176,748 Nepali Citizens of Madhesi ethnicity living in Qatar as migrant workers.[9][10][11] In 2012 about 7,000 Turkish nationals lived in Qatar[12] and in 2016 about 1,000 Colombian nationals and descendants lived in Qatar.

Vital statistics

UN estimates

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950–1955	1,000	0	1,000	47.5	13.8	33.7	6.97	126
1955–1960	2,000	0	1,000	44.3	11.3	33.0	6.97	110
1960–1965	2,000	1,000	2,000	41.0	8.8	32.1	6.97	90
1965–1970	4,000	1,000	3,000	38.6	6.8	31.8	6.97	71
1970–1975	5,000	1,000	4,000	34.8	5.2	29.6	6.77	53
1975–1980	7,000	1,000	6,000	35.7	4.0	31.7	6.11	38
1980–1985	10,000	1,000	9,000	33.2	3.1	30.1	5.45	28
1985–1990	11,000	1,000	10,000	25.4	2.5	22.9	4.50	23
1990–1995	11,000	1,000	10,000	22.8	2.2	20.6	4.01	18
1995–2000	10,000	1,000	9,000	19.2	2.1	17.1	3.30	14
2000–2005	13,000	1,000	12,000	18.8	1.9	16.9	3.01	11
2005–2010	18,000	2,000	16,000	14.1	1.6	12.5	2.40	9
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)
Source:[13]

Registered births and deaths

	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 2)	Natural change (per 1000)	TFR
1970	108,000	3,616	464	3,152	33.4	4.3	29.1
1971	118,000	3,921	491	3,430	33.2	4.2	29.0
1972	129,000	4,038	563	3,475	31.2	4.4	26.8
1973	141,000	4,367	660	3,707	31.0	4.7	26.3
1974	152,000	4,562	688	3,874	30.0	4.5	25.5
1975	163,000	4,559	600	3,959	28.0	3.7	24.3
1976	172,000	4,893	609	4,284	28.4	3.5	24.9
1977	181,000	5,313	686	4,627	29.4	3.8	25.6
1978	190,000	5,977	645	5,332	31.4	3.4	28.0
1979	203,000	6,057	709	5,348	29.8	3.5	26.3
1980	222,000	6,750	662	6,088	30.5	3.0	27.5
1981	246,000	7,192	725	6,467	29.3	3.0	26.3
1982	275,000	8,032	789	7,243	29.2	2.9	26.3
1983	307,000	8,261	803	7,458	26.9	2.6	24.3
1984	338,000	8,613	642	7,971	25.5	1.9	23.6
1985	368,000	9,225	794	8,431	25.1	2.2	22.9
1986	395,000	9,942	784	9,158	25.2	2.0	23.2
1987	420,000	9,919	788	9,131	23.6	1.9	21.7
1988	442,000	10,842	861	9,981	24.5	1.9	22.6
1989	460,000	10,908	847	10,061	23.7	1.8	21.9
1990	474,000	11,022	871	10,151	23.3	1.8	21.5
1991	483,000	9,756	883	8,873	20.2	1.8	18.4
1992	488,000	10,459	944	9,515	21.4	1.9	19.5
1993	491,000	10,822	913	9,909	22.0	1.9	20.1
1994	495,000	10,561	964	9,597	21.3	1.9	19.4
1995	501,000	10,371	1,000	9,371	20.7	2.0	18.7
1996	512,000	10,317	1,015	9,302	20.1	2.0	18.1
1997	529,000	10,447	1,060	9,387	19.8	2.0	17.8
1998	549,000	10,781	1,157	9,624	19.6	2.1	17.5
1999	570,000	10,846	1,148	9,698	19.0	2.0	17.0
2000	591,000	11,438	1,173	10,265	19.4	2.0	17.4
2001	608,000	12,355	1,210	11,145	20.3	2.0	18.3
2002	624,000	12,388	1,220	11,168	19.8	2.0	17.8
2003	654,000	13,026	1,311	11,715	19.9	2.0	17.9
2004	715,000	13,589	1,341	12,248	19.0	1.9	17.1	2.78
2005	821,000	13,514	1,545	11,969	16.5	1.9	14.6	2.62
2006	978,000	14,204	1,750	12,454	14.5	1.8	12.7	2.48
2007	1,178,000	15,695	1,776	13,919	13.3	1.5	11.8	2.45
2008	1,448,000	17,480	1,942	15,538	12.1	1.3	10.8	2.43
2009	1,639,000	18,351	2,008	16,343	11.2	1.2	10.0	2.28
2010	1,715,000	19,504	1,970	17,534	11.4	1.1	10.3	2.08
2011	1,733,000	20,623	1,949	18,674	12.0	1.1	10.9	2.12
2012	1,833,000	21,423	2,031	19,392	11.7	1.1	10.6	2.05
2013	2,004,000	23,708	2,133	21,575	11.8	1.1	10.7	2.00
2014	2,216,000	25,443	2,366	23,007	11.5	1.1	10.4	2.00
2015	2,438,000	26,622	2,317	24,305	10.9	1.0	9.9	2.00
2016	2,618,000	26,816	2,347	24,469	10.2	0.9	9.3	1.85
2017	2,725,000	27,906	2,294	25,612	10.2	0.8	9.4	1.83
2018	2,760,000	28,069	2,385	25,684	10.2	0.9	9.3	1.75
2019	2,799,000	28,412	2,200	26,212	10.2	0.8	9.4	1.73
Sources:[14][15]

Life expectancy

Period	Life expectancy in Years	Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	55.2	1985–1990	74.5
1955–1960	59.2	1990–1995	75.3
1960–1965	62.9	1995–2000	76.0
1965–1970	66.6	2000–2005	76.6
1970–1975	69.7	2005–2010	76.9
1975–1980	71.8	2010–2015	77.6
1980–1985	73.4
Source: UN World Population Prospects[16]

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.

Population

• 2,123,160 (July 2014 est.) Qatar is the 146th most populated nation.[17]
• 2,314,307 (July 2017 est.) Qatar is the 143rd most populated nation.[17]
• 2,444,174 (July 2020 est.) Qatar is the 143rd most populated nation.[18]

Age structure

• 0–14 years: 12.84% (male 158,702/female 155,211)
• 15–24 years: 11.78% (male 203,703/female 84,323)
• 25–54 years: 70.66% (male 1,439,364/female 287,575)
• 55–64 years: 3.53% (male 66,561/female 19,600)
• 65 years and over: 1.19% (male 19,067/female 10,068) (2020 est.)

Population growth rate

• 2.27% (2017 est.)
• 9.56%: World Bank (2009 est.)
• 3.58%: CIA World FactBook (2014 est.)
• 2.11%: 2005–2010 List by the United Nations
• 1.55% (2020 est.)

Sex ratio

Source:[5]

• at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
• 0–14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
• 15–24 years: 2.42 male(s)/female
• 25–54 years: 5.01 male(s)/female
• 55–64 years: 3.4 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 1.89 male(s)/female total population: 3.39 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Average life span (Life expectancy at birth)

• Average: 79.4 years
• men: 77.2 years
• women: 81.6 years (2020 est.)

Total fertility rate

• 2.08 children born per 1 female (2010 est.) (Qataris: 3.59 children/woman, Foreign nationals: 1.75 children/woman)
• 1.88 children born per 1 female (2020 est.)

Nationality

• noun: Qatari(s)
• adjective: Qatari

Ethnic groups[6][19]

• Qatari 12.10%[5]
• Indian 25.00%
• Pakistani 4.80%
• Iranian 1.50%
• Europeans 14%

Country	Number	percent
India	650,000	25.00%
Qatar	330,000	12.10%
Philippines	260,000	10.00%
Egypt	200,000	8.60%
Bangladesh	280,000	12.10%
Sri Lanka	145,256	5.60%
Pakistan	125,000	4.80%
Syria	54,000	2.20%
Sudan	50,000	2.10%
Jordan	40,000	1.72%
Indonesia	39,000	1.68%
Iran	30,000	1.3%-1.50%
United Kingdom	25,000	1.10%
Lebanon	25,000	1.08%
Ethiopia	21,374	0.92%
Palestine	20,500	0.89%

Religions

• Islam 67.7%—the majority Salafi Sunni[20]
• Hindu 13.8%
• Christian 13.8%
• Buddhist 3.1%

Languages

Arabic is the official language of Qatar according to Article 1 of the Constitution.[21]

English is the de facto second language of Qatar, and is very commonly used in business. Because of Qatar's varied ethnic landscape, English has been recognized as the most convenient medium for people of different backgrounds to communicate with each other.[22] The history of English use in the country dates back to the mid-19th and early 20th centuries when the British Empire would frequently draft treaties and agreements with the emirates of the Persian Gulf. One such treaty was the 1916 protectorate treaty signed between Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani and the British representative Percy Cox, under which Qatar would be placed under British administration in exchange for protection. Another agreement drafted in English came in 1932 and was signed between the Qatari government and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. These agreements were mainly facilitated by foreign interpreters due to neither party possessing the required language skills for such complex arrangements. For instance, a translator and native Arabic speaker named A. A. Hilmy interpreted the 1932 agreement for Qatar.[23]

Hindi, Urdu, Tagalog, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam are commonly used among Asian migrants. In 2015, there were more newspapers being printed by the government in Malayalam than in Arabic or English.[24]

Literacy

• definition: age >15 can both read & write
• overall population: 97.3%
• males: 97.4%
• females: 96.8% (2015 est.)

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

• 35.1% (2016)

Y-chromosome DNA

Y-Chromosome DNA Y-DNA represents the male lineage, The Qatari Y-chromosome in large belongs to haplogroup J which comprises two thirds of the total chromosomes[25]

• J1 ≈58.3%
• J2 ≈8.3%
• E* ≈7.0% — E(xE1b1b)
• R1a ≈6.9%
• E1b1b ≈5.6%
• Other Haplogroups ≈13.9%

Mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) represents the female lineage The Qatari mitochondrial DNA shows much more diversity than the Y-DNA lineages, with more than 35% of the lineages showing African ancestry (East African & Subsaharan) & the rest of the lineages being Eurasian.[26]

• R0 ~ 22% (14% R0*, 8% H)
• JT ~ 22% (18% J & 4% T)
• UK ~ 20% (11% K & 9% U)
• L3 ~ 10% (East African & Subsaharan lineages)
• Other lineages ~ 26%

References

1. "Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics". Retrieved 2017-02-07.
2. "Population of Qatar by nationality - 2017 report". Retrieved 2017-02-07.
3. "QATAR 2015/2016". Retrieved 2016-11-25.
4. "Qatar Tourist Guide". Retrieved 2012-02-15.
5. "Middle East ::QATAR". CIA The World Factbook.
6. http://priyadsouza.com/population-of-qatar-by-nationality-in-2017/
7. Qatar Statistics Authority - Population 2012
8. World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision Archived February 28, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
9. "Nepalese Migrant workers in Qatar from Terai".
10. "Iom International Report claims half of Nepalese migrant workers in foreign are Madhesi people from Terai, mainly to Qatar, Malaysia, UAE, Saudi Arabia and UAE".
11. "Half of madhesi people of Terai are in Qatar".
12. "Turkish school in Qatar to help spread Turkish culture" (Archive). Today's Zaman. Wednesday February 29, 2012. Retrieved on September 26, 2015.
13. World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision Archived May 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
14. United nations. Demographic Yearbooks
15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2015-06-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Qatar Information Exchange]
16. "World Population Prospects – Population Division – United Nations". Retrieved 2017-07-15.
17. "The World Factbook". CIA. 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
18. "Middle East :: Qatar — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
19. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-10-20. Retrieved 2017-01-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
20. CIA Factbook – Qatar
21. "Qatar's Constitution of 2003" (PDF). Constitute Project. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
22. The Report: Qatar 2015. Oxford Business Group. 2015. p. 12.
23. Qotbah, Mohammed Abdullah (1990). Needs analysis and the design of courses in English for academic purposes : a study of the use of English language at the University of Qatar (PDF). etheses.dur.ac.uk (Thesis). Durham theses, Durham University. p. 8. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
24. The Report: Qatar 2015. Oxford Business Group. 2015. p. 15.
25. Cadenas et al. 2007
26. Rowold et al. 2007

Further reading

• Ferdinand, Klaus (1993). Ida Nicolaisen (ed.). Bedouins of Qatar. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 9780500015735. OCLC 990430539.