Population: Dubai's population is estimated to have reached 857,233 by the middle of this year, according to Dubai Municipality's figures published in its statistical yearbook and released through the Statistics Centre at the Department of Administrative Affairs. The figures also show 602,462 of the total population are males and 254,771 females.

Did you know that there are almost three times more men than women in Dubai? Click here

Article: What price a wedding. Click here

Age structure:

0-14 years : 32% (male 375,709; female 360,199)
15-64 years: 66% (male 975,868; female 511,692)
65 years and over: 2% (male 25,869; female 12,972) (July 1997 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.79% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 18.46 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 3.01 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: 2.48 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over : 1.99 male(s)/female total population: 1.56 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 15.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population : 74.64 years male: 73.18 years female : 76.17 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.62 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Ethnic groups:

Emiri 19%,
other Arab and Iranian 23%,
South Asian 50%,
other expatriates (includes Westerners and East Asians) 8% (1982) note: less than 20% are UAE citizens (1982)
Religions:

Muslim 96% (Shi'a 16%),
Christian, Hindu, and other 4%
Languages: Arabic (official), Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write but definition of literacy not available total population: 79.2% male : 78.9% female: 79.8% (1995 est.)

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UAE birth rate takes alarming plunge
Ras Al Khaimah |By Nasouh Nazzal | 16-02-2001
Gulf News

The dramatic drop in the birth rate among newly-married UAE national couples has been partly attributed to housing problems because they cannot afford a home, and are forced to live with their parents.

Director-General of the UAE Marriage Fund, Jamal Obaid Al Bah, said in the 1970s, the birth rate was 41 babies per 1,000 couples. "The figure was 31 in the 1990s and it has plummeted to a mere 23 now," he said.

He was addressing a large gathering of national men and women at a seminar organised at the Shamal Folklore Association yesterday. Al Bah stressed that this sharp drop is partly because of housing problems faced by newly-married nationals who do not feel free enough to have more children while living with their parents.

He said, "The housing problem faced by nationals has become a key issue. However, every effort is being made to solve it." Al Bah blamed nationals who are not abiding by the instructions of President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan to limit wedding costs to a maximum of Dh20,000. Dowry should be restricted to a maximum of Dh30,000.

"These points should be clearly mentioned in the marriage contract, and those who do not list them, will not get financial assistance by the Marriage Fund," he warned. He pointed out that a number of nationals who benefit from the Marriage Fund, fritter away the money. Some even borrow more money from banks, and spend it on "trivial things" rather than housing.

Al Bah stressed the importance of planning. He urged nationals to be careful, especially when thinking of taking loans and stressed that they must live a life without debt.

"Planning should be a key factor for nationals, and parents should instil this in their children. Parents must ingrain in their children that taking random loans from banks is not right." He said the Marriage Fund will never be able to play its role unless nationals cooperate. "It is high time that people realise that a marriage will be successful if the family is not in debt."

He said the UAE Marriage Fund has succeeded in reducing the number of divorces among nationals, particularly young couples. "The Fund has also helped reduce the number of inter marriages. Fewer nationals are marrying foreigners," he added.

He said the Marriage Fund has started giving financial assistance to older nationals to discourage them from getting married to foreigners, particularly younger women. Al Bah said the Marriage Fund will become a national body with departments and sections, and will have branches all over the seven emirates so that it can play a more active role.

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Men outnumber women 3-1 in Dubai, survey shows
By A Staff Reporter Gulf News 8th October 2000

Dubai - There are almost three times more men than women in Dubai, according to the latest Municipality statistical survey. The estimated population in 1999 was 857,233, of whom 602,462 were male and 254,771 were female.

There are almost three times more men than women living in Dubai, according to the latest statistical survey compiled by Dubai Municipality. This can be seen on the streets of the city, where you will almost always see men outnumbering women at any time. ?GN picture by Javed Nawab

The 10th survey also found that Europeans top the list of income and spending groups. The survey contains 18 chapters, 306 tables and 91 graphics that provide a detailed description of the economic and social situation in the emirate over the past five years.

The Municipality has updated the data by incorporating results of surveys conducted in 1993, 1995, 1998 and 1999.

Arif Al Mahiri, head of the Statistics Centre, said, "The first chapter contains figures on climactic conditions. The highest temperature in 1999 was 47.5C in August, and the lowest was 11.2C in January. The heaviest rain in one day was in February - 35.7 millimetres.

"The second chapter contains figures on population. It shows that in mid-1999 it was estimated at 857,233, of whom 602,462 were male and 254,771 female. There were 15,730 births and 1,351 deaths."

There was a 49 per cent increase in the number of buildings constructed last year over 1995. Of the 1,830 buildings constructed in 1999, 54 per cent were villas and residential apartments, 28 per cent industrial, recreational and service buildings, and 18 per cent multi-storey buildings (6,296 flats and 1,339 shops) meant for leasing.

"Figures for transport and communications show that Dubai International Airport received 132,708 flights in 1999, up eight per cent over 1998. The number of passengers using the airport was 10,754,824, or 10.5 per cent more than 1998.

"The number of telephone lines was 368,185, up 6.3 per cent from 1998. The Municipality's revenues in 1999 rose 24 per cent over 1998. Last year the city collected revenues of Dh1.21 billion.

"Expenditure fell to Dh1.91 billion during this period, but spending on investment projects totalled Dh1.307 billion, up 5.9 per cent over 1998."

Al Mahiri said: "This chapter also contains the results of a family income survey conducted in 1997-98, which shows that Europeans top the list of income and spending groups with an average annual income of Dh363,000 and annual spending of Dh223,000.

"They're followed by UAE nationals with income of Dh268,000 and expenditure of Dh188,000, other Arab families with Dh133,000 and Dh100,000, and Asian families with Dh119,000 and Dh86,000."

The lowest category was labourers with Dh21,000 annual income and Dh13,000 expenditure. As for medical services, there are five hospitals and 27 health centres under the Ministry of Health and the Department of Health and Medical Services. There are 490 mosques.

The work force in local government departments was 31,305 in 1999 against 44,947 in 1998. Al Mahiri said: "The decline was due to lack of information from some departments. The number of employees at Dubai Municipality as of 1999 was 9,550.

"The number of national employees rose by 12.9 per cent in 1999 compared with the number of 1998. The number of employees in the federal ministries and government establishments of Dubai was 13,385 in 1999, of whom 7,199 were Nationals."

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What price a wedding?

Officials in the United Arab Emirates have adopted a carrot-and-stick approach to discourage young Emiratis from marrying foreign nationals, blaming mixed marriages for a significant rise in regional divorce levels. Karen Thomas asks whether romance is dead.

Officials in the United Arab Emirates have adopted a carrot-and-stick approach to discourage young Emiratis from marrying foreign nationals, blaming mixed marriages for a significant rise in regional divorce levels. Karen Thomas asks whether romance is dead. Officials in the United Arab Emirates have launched new initiatives to deter young Emirati citizens from marrying non-nationals, a trend blamed for soaring divorce rates in all the Gulf states.
After a decade of inflated wedding bills and dowry demands, Emirati bachelors are increasingly unwilling to marry local women. Growing numbers of bachelors, unable to raise the six figure sums that many prospective in-laws demand and reluctant to fall into debt, have opted out by taking European, Asian or foreign Arab brides.

In response, the state has launched measures to penalize young Emiratis who marry foreigners and local families who defy the UAE?s new mood of economic austerity. At the same time, it has introduced financial incentives to persuade Emirati couples to marry each other. But there is no evidence to suggest that this carrot-and-stick approach has managed to halt the trend.

Since the 1970s oil-boom, Gulf states have seen increasing competition between prominent families seeking to out-do each others? lavish weddings. Marriages are major social events in the Gulf states, societies that ? contrary to the popular western stereotype ? generally frown on ostentatious public displays of material wealth.

Keeping up with the Joneses (or the Husseins) has come under fire at a time when regional governments are promoting a new economic austerity.

But while governments have struggled to curb social spending during the last decade, wedding costs and dowries have continued to spiral upwards.

Traditionally, an Arabian woman?s dowry comprised ornate silver jewellery, but modern brides favour gold jewellery and cash sums to the traditional Arabian wedding sets. Rising gold prices have only increased young GCC bachelors? financial worries. In status-conscious Arabian social circles, the average cost of a wedding had soared to around $100,000 by the late 1990s.

Weddings generate up to 80 per cent of the UAE?s consumer credit and statistics suggest that far from basking in newly-wedded bliss, the early years of marriage see young husbands struggling to save up to two-thirds of their income to repay their wedding loan.

Weddings generate up to 80 per cent of the UAE?s consumer credit

UAE officials have started to promote mass weddings ? a common phenomenon in poor Shi?a villages in Saudi Arabia?s Eastern Province ? as a means to cut costs. Last summer saw the first such wedding in the northern emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, where per capita incomes are half the UAE average.

Despite such initiatives, the marked increase in wedding and dowry costs has coincided with a steep increase in divorce rates in all Arabian Gulf states, leading some officials to conclude that the trends are linked.

Divorce rates stand at 25 per cent in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, 29 per cent in Kuwait and 40 per cent in the UAE. Anecdotal evidence suggests that modern Arabian women are less willing than their mothers? generation to tolerate unhappy marriages and are initiating a growing proportion of divorces.

The role of the mahr (dowry) in Islamic marriages has sometimes been interpreted as a bride-price. To many Muslims, it is purely symbolic, just as white dresses, diamond engagement rings and gold wedding bands are symbols in traditional Western marriages.

The sum agreed between the bridegroom?s family and the bride?s parents should be paid to the bride herself. In many cases, the dowry is an insurance policy, payable to the woman in full if her husband remarries, or in the event of divorce.

A skeptical woman might conclude that the larger her dowry, the greater her chances of financial independence should the marriage turn sour.

Eight years ago, UAE ruler Sheikh Zayed launched a $68 million Marriage Fund to encourage Emirati youths to marry local women. The fund, which donates cash to deserving bachelors to cover wedding and dowry costs, expects to receive 8,000 applications this year.

But there is evidence to suggest that such financial incentives will not reverse rising divorce rates in the Gulf states, and may even be compounding the problem.

One senior Kuwaiti official argues that government grants are making matters worse. In an interview with the Khaleej Times, the Counseling Services Department official said he had witnessed cases where men applying for Kuwaiti Marriage Fund grants had then filed for divorce with indecent haste, splitting the cash with their ex-wives.

Having highlighted incentives to promote marriage when it launched, the UAE Marriage Fund is increasingly adopting a policing role. In March, officials unveiled plans for compulsory health tests for brides whose husbands had applied to the fund.

Officials will refuse to award funds, and may even try to forbid the marriage, if the bride refuses to be tested or tests positive for certain un-named diseases. There are no plans to test male nationals, who enjoy greater freedom to socialize than their female counterparts.

By contrast, neighboring Bahrain offers voluntary blood tests, family planning and pre-marital counseling to engaged couples. Bahrain, which has a high incidence of sickle cell anemia, also runs a full and frank Aids education programme in schools and health centers targeting both men and women.

Jamal Al Bah, head of the UAE Marriage Fund, has said that families will be fined up to $136,000 if they stage lavish weddings that defy the new austerity and has also ordered brides? parents to curb their dowry demands. In 1998, the UAE introduced a new marriage law that restricted dowries to less than $10,000.

The UAE has discussed implementing an overt ban on marriages to foreign nationals. Laws in neighboring Saudi Arabia and Qatar make it difficult for men to marry foreign women, although Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain have taken a more relaxed approach.

Emirati women seem, increasingly, to be the target of new government restrictions. One proposal being discussed is a review of UAE citizenship law. At present, any child born to an Emirati parent is automatically considered a UAE citizen, but new proposals would limit that right to children born to Emirati fathers.

The proposal has far-reaching implications, because an Emirati woman divorcing a foreign husband would find it almost impossible to win custody of her children ? in the event of the court ruling granting custody to the wife, her children could, technically, be stateless.

While young men are under pressure to find work and start saving towards their wedding as early as they can, young women are free to concentrate on their education. Some 65 per cent of all GCC university graduates are women, with many actively delaying marriage to focus on their studies.

As recently as the 1980s, most Arabian women were married by their late teens. Today, the average woman is more likely to marry aged 22-24. Attitudes to marriage have changed radically in a single generation. Teachers and youth workers report that female students are increasingly reluctant to marry: many young Emirati women find their male counterparts conservative and argue that foreign men make more considerate husbands.

?When my female students talk about marriage, it amazes me how cynical they are,? said a Dubai-based teacher. ?They say they would rather never marry at all than marry a man who expects them to lead the same kind of life as their mother?s.

?And they often say they want to marry a non-national. Nor do they want to be second wives; they want to be the first wife, full stop.?

Improved education, access to media and overseas travel are factors which have influenced young women?s expectations.

As recently as the 1980s, most Arabian women were married by their late teens

Most girls pursue their studies with their families? wholehearted blessing, although some middle-class parents see education as a means to a more affluent husband, rather than the passport to an independent career. Many students hope to combine a home life with a career.

?Some students may not want a career, but they want a good education, because having a good education will make them better mothers and therefore this benefits the family as a whole,? says Judy Turk, dean of communication and media studies at Dubai?s single-sex Zayed University.

It is still rare for an Arabian woman to reject marriage and motherhood outright ?despite the scare stories, some undoubtedly generated by conservatives, about a new generation of unmarriageable, work-oriented spinsters ? but many believe that their domestic responsibilities are perfectly compatible with a stimulating professional career.

However, the government is sending mixed messages to young Emirati women. On the one hand, Arabisation initiatives call on young men and women to fulfill their national duty and make an economic contribution to society; on the other hand, the Marriage Fund is promoting the notion that women should settle down with a suitable ? if highly conservative ? Emirati boy.

It may take another generation to resolve this dilemma. ?Many [female] students argue it is better for the country if they get an education, so that they can work to help the country,? Mrs. Turk says.

?These young women have heard Sheikh Zayed talking about Emiratisation and the need for the young people of this country to run not just the government, but also the private sector, and there is an element of nationalism, of ?taking our country back from the foreigners?.?

The Middle East Magazine
June 2000 issue


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