By Ramesh Mathew/Staff Reporter
Qatar’s population has grown to 2.17mn, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics.
The latest figure shows a marginal growth of 0.9% compared to figures issued by the ministry on April 30, which had put the number of the country’s total residents at 2,155,446 .
The population includes only those holding Qatar residence permits and are present in the country when the findings are released.
As per the ministry, Qatar housed 2,174,035 residents on May 31, which is 11% more than the figures for the corresponding month last year. On May 31, 2013, the country had 1,963,124 people.
The latest figure shows the country has 1,622,065 males and 551,970 females, both the highest ever recorded in Qatar.
It is again the first time ever that the number of women in Qatar is exceeding 550,000. On April 30, the country had 548,218 females, according to the ministry report.
If one goes by the previous year’s statistics, the population is expected to show a fall in the months of June, July and August as a considerable number of the residents, both the nationals and expatriates, usually go out of the country on vacation to escape the sweltering heat. However in September, it always shows an increase.
For instance in 2013, while the population stood at 1,963,124 on May 2013, the figures for the next three months, were shown as 1,916,426 (June), 1,880,543 (July) and 1,864,817 (August).
However, in September it crossed the 2mn mark (2,035,106) for the first time ever apparently when most of those who were vacationing outside the country returned from their holidays.
Another interesting finding is that compared to the figures of May 2009, there is an increase of more than 520,000 people in the latest figure. Five years ago (May 2009), there were 1,652,608 people living in the country.
