The population of six Gulf oil producers stood at around 52.6 million at the end of 2015 and is expected to grow by nearly 12 million in 2030, according to official forecasts.
Nearly two-thirds of the increase will come from Saudi Arabia, the largest and most populated member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in a report.
At the end of 2016, the GCC’s combined population is projected to rise to 53.5 million and will continue its growth to reach 57.13 million at the end of 2020, around 61.08 million at the end of 2025 and 64.9 million at the end of 2030, the report showed.
This means an increase of around 12.3 million and annual growth rate of 5.8 per cent between 2015 and 2030.
A breakdown showed Saudi Arabia’s population stood at 31.5 million at the end of 2015, nearly 60 per cent of the total GCC population.
It is projected to grow to 32.1 million at the end of 2016, to 34.4 million at the end of 2020, to 36.8 million at the end of 2025 and 39.1 million at the end of 2030.
The report put the UAE’s population at around 9.15 million at the end of 2015 and expected it to rise to 9.2 million at the end of 2016, to 9.8 million at the end of 2020, to 10.4 million at the end of 2025 and 10.9 million at the end of 2030.
Oman had a population of around 4.49 million at the end of 2015 and is projected to reach 5.23 million at the end of 2030.
Kuwait’s population stood at 3.89 million at the end of 2015 and is projected to increase to 5.29 million at the end of 2030 while population of Qatar and Bahrain stood at 2.23 million and 1.37 million and is expected to rise to 2.78 million and 1.64 million respectively in the same period.