A Brief Survey of Qatar’s Population

Qatar, a country located in the Middle East, stands out because of its continuous growth. The country shows signs of becoming larger, so you may wonder about Qatar and its population statistics. Let’s look at various information online so we can see a general survey of Qatar’s population.

As we go through these different population demographics, remember that the statistics and information mentioned in this article from the corresponding links for each section.

Population and Projected Growth

Qatar is a country that continues to grow. For example, Qatar will have a population of roughly 2.9 million by the end of 2020, which shows that the population continues to increase. It was in the low 2.8 million range a year ago and the country shows projections to maintain its growth for many years to come.

Qatar shows signs of growing to 3.3 million in the next ten years and it will continue to grow until it begins to plateau in 2060. This population growth has led to an increase in Qatar’s population rank from 184th to 139th in a 50-year span. In short, Qatar’s population will continue to grow for the next few decades with room for further potential growth in the future.

Median Age

The population isn’t the only part of Qatar that shows signs of growth since the median age continues to increase. As of 2020, Qatar has a median age of 32.3, which shows that more people live past their 30s and others live to higher ages in comparison to previous years.

When the median age of a country grows, that shows signs of the country’s technology and overall living conditions increasing. There are many signs that correspond with this improvement in living conditions – for example, the number of households with pets including dogs, which can be rare in the Middle East, and the increased demand for pet care products. Qatar’s median age continues to grow, especially when you compare it to 50 years ago when the country had a median age of 22. This indicates that the country continues to improve and provide better conditions for its inhabitants.

Life Expectancy

Not only does Qatar have an increase in the median age, but it also has steady growth when it comes to life expectancy. Back in 1960, Qatar citizens had a life expectancy of just under 62, but now that has increased to 80. This shows that more citizens expect to live for longer periods of time.

Keep in mind that the life expectancy is only an estimate, so some people may live to be older or younger depending on their own personal health and circumstances. Qatar showed signs of serious life expectancy increase during the 1980s, but it has begun to plateau. This is expected as life expectancy increases since it’s uncommon for humans to live until they turn 100.

Fertility Rate

The fertility rate in Qatar currently sits at 1.9 births per woman in the country. This means that the country continues to grow since more women continue to give birth, but this number dropped in comparison to previous years. This shows that fewer women will give birth which will lead to slower growth in the country’s population.

1970 had seven births per woman, which indicated that the country had women that would get pregnant often. Since the number continues to drop, this means that the population will slow down its growth. However, as long as the fertility rate remains higher than the death rate, the population will continue to grow.

Gender Ratio

Interestingly, Qatar has significantly more men than women. Many populations have roughly a 1:1 ratio of men to women, but Qatar has a population of about 1.95 million men and 0.75 million women. This means that there’s a ratio of about 7:3 between men and women in this country.

While this is a noticeable gap, the country used to have a wider margin. This means that Qatar’s female population continues to grow in comparison to the male population, but it’s at a slow rate. However, we could see a future where Qatar has a ratio closer to the expected 1:1 between the two genders.

Nationalities

People may assume that Qatar locals make up the majority of the population, but they only make up 15 percent of the country. There are plenty of other nationalities that make up larger portions of the population. For example, 24 percent of the population is Indian and 16 percent is Nepali, which shows some diversity in the country.

The number of immigrants that move into the country explains why Qatar has such a diverse population. On top of this, many males move into the country for work, which explains the major gap between the male and female population. Keep in mind that Qatar has a large diversity of nationalities that includes Arabs, Filipinos, and many others.

Religion

Since Qatar is located in the Middle East, the main religion is Muslim. About 67 percent of the population is Muslim with Christianity and Hinduism both sitting at 13.8 percent each. Buddhism has about 3.1 percent and all other religions, such as folk religions and Judaism, are below one percent each.

Interestingly, religion seems to be a major part of Qatar. Under one percent of the population don’t associate with a religion, so about 99 percent of the country’s residents identify with a particular religion. Due to this, we can conclude that religion plays a significant role in the country.

Birth, Death, and Net Migration Rates

As expected from a country that shows population growth, the birth rate is higher than the death rate. Qatar has 9.3 births and 1.6 deaths per 1000 people that live in the country. This shows that the number of births is nearly six times higher than the number of deaths in the country, which explains why the country continues to grow in population.

On top of this, Qatar has a net migration rate. They have 6.5 immigrants for every 1000 people that live in the country. This shows that more people move into the country than those that leave the country, which will naturally increase the population. In short, Qatar has more people born and moving into the country in comparison to the number of inhabitants that die.

Conclusion

Qatar stands out because of its growth and how its population differs from other countries. For example, Qatar has a strangely large gender gap between males and females. Since Qatar has such a diverse population, you may find it interesting to track their statistics and see how they will change in the coming years.