Fifty years ago, in the summer of 1975, the UAE completed its first census as a country. It revealed a population of a little over half a million, with the majority living in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. By the standards of the past, it was a population explosion.

Three-quarters of a century earlier, there were estimated to be just 44,000 people living in the seven emirates. In fact, the UAE was just beginning its astonishing rate of growth. In 2025, 11 million people are expected to be living in the UAE, a population increase over the last half century that is thought to be the highest in the world.

The statistics are mind-blowing. The population of the seven emirates is 250 times higher today than in 1901 – a massive 24,900 per cent growth rate. In contrast, the population of the United States has only quadrupled in that time and that of France has not even doubled. Between 1975 and 2025, the population of Egypt – the most populous country in the Middle East – has tripled, from 38.9 million to 118.4 million, while Saudi Arabia's population has increased almost eightfold, from 4.6 million to 34.6 million.

The UAE in 2025 is a modern country, with a thriving and diverse economy investing in everything from artificial intelligence to space travel. Its people, once among the world’s poorest, now have one of the highest standards of living on Earth. It is now no longer a case of how fast you can grow but how much you can achieve.

1901

At the start of the 20th century, the seven emirates were collectively known as the Trucial States through a series of treaties that gave Britain power over their external and internal affairs.

Anxious to increase Britain’s influence in the Gulf and concerned that rival foreign powers were trying to muscle in, British officials in India commissioned a report by H S Barnes, of the Foreign Office, Government of India, and C A Kemball, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf.

This included the first census of what would become the UAE, conducted through the rulers of each emirate, who in turn reached out to local chiefs to list the men in their villages.

The census excluded women, but included other nationals, including Persians and those from other Gulf states, along with the primary economic activity of each area – principally pearl fishing, date plantations and agriculture.

It recorded a male population of around 22,000, meaning that the total population was probably around double that, not including children.

The same year one of the first photographs was taken in the UAE, showing Qasr Al Hosn in Abu Dhabi. Two years later, Britain sought to further emphasise its control over the region by dispatching the Viceroy of India with a flotilla of warships to summon Trucial States rulers to remind them of their treaty obligations.

1968

Nearly 70 years after the first census, British officials once again set out to estimate the population of the seven emirates. This, though, was the end of empire.

In 1968, Britain announced it was withdrawing from the Gulf, which was increasingly prosperous thanks to oil and gas discoveries. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum met that year to agree on the foundations of a union between Abu Dhabi and Dubai that would lead to the creation of the UAE.

The 1968 census took place between March 18 and April 14 and recorded a total population of 180,000, rounded to the nearest hundred, and over four times larger than that of 1901.

The emirate with the largest population was Dubai with 59,000, of which 57,000 lived in the city. Abu Dhabi’s population of 46,500 was more spread out. Around 22,000 lived on the island of Abu Dhabi, with 13,000 in Al Ain and the surrounding villages. Sharjah had the third-largest population, with 31,500. Ras Al Khaimah was next, with 24,500, followed by Fujairah with 9,700. Ajman’s population was 4,200, and Umm Al Quwain the smallest at 3,700.

The census also recorded 1,100 members of the Trucial Oman Scouts based in camps, but did not list the proportion of foreign workers or the population by age or gender.

1980

Taken just five years after the first UAE census, the second drilled down deeper in the population, including gender, age and family size. It also recorded that the country’s population had topped one million for the first time.

Out of the total population of 1,042,099, Emirati nationals made up 290,544, of which 150,573 were men and boys. The biggest age group in this population was under four years old, at more than 60,000. By contrast, the largest foreign national population was in their mid to late twenties, at over 140,000.

Abu Dhabi remained the largest emirate, with a population of 451,848, followed by Dubai at 276,301. Sharjah’s population had doubled to 159,317, and the others had grown at a similar rate.

1985

Commemorated with a series of postage stamps, the third UAE census confirmed a steadily upward tread, with the UAE population now growing by over 80,000 a year to stand at 1,379,303.

Inevitably, this was fuelled by foreign workers, drawn by the country’s economic success and whose number now totalled more than 900,000. Abu Dhabi’s population topped half a million and Dubai reached 370,00.

1995

The 1995 census revealed that the population had almost doubled again, to 2,411,041. Abu Dhabi's population was more than 900,000 and Dubai stood at 689,420. These were now major world cities, with the infrastructure to support large populations.

The most explosive growth was in Sharjah, which had nearly tripled in 10 years to 402,420. The number of Emiratis stood at 587,300 or around a quarter of the UAE’s total population.

2005

Census day in fell in December 2005 and was the first of the century. Sheikh Zayed had died the previous year and there was a new President of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. In Dubai and Abu Dhabi, buildings such as the Burj Al Arab and Emirates Palace hotels signalled the growth of the country as a major international holiday destination.

The 2005 census showed the population had almost doubled again, reaching 4,106,427 of which 1,399,484 lived in Abu Dhabi, and, catching up fast, 1,321,453 in Dubai. Emirati nationals totalled 825,495.

2011

Government officials announced that the traditional census, counting people by going door to door, was to be scrapped. Future population estimates would be gathered using more reliable data, including visas issued and cancelled, and birth and death certificates.

The National Bureau of Statistics said it believed there were 8.26 million residents in the UAE in 2011. Separately, Dubai estimated its population as 1,970,000 – it would top two million by the following year – while Abu Dhabi reached 2,161,000. The number of expatriate workers in Dubai was reflected in a dramatic imbalance of the sexes, with almost three-quarters of the population male.

2025

Dubai and Abu Dhabi now conduct their own population statistics. The Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi calculated the capital's population in 2023 as 3.85 million, rising to 4.14 million in 2024. Dubai's population is expected to reach four million in 2025. The current total population of the UAE is thought to be more than 11 million, based on calculations using United Nations figures.

Emiratis now make up around 12 per cent of the population, but the time when the population doubled every 10 years seems to be over. The largest group of expatriates is from the Indian subcontinent, at around four million. The country is also thought to be home to nearly 200 nationalities, according to embassy records.

According to the World Health Organisation, the UAE population will grow more slowly in the future but is still set to reach 15.4 million by the middle of the century.