Updated version of 'Explore Abu Dhabi through Statistics, 2015' released

Statistics Centre-Abu Dhabi (SCAD) has recently released a revised and updated version of its publication "Explore Abu Dhabi through Statistics, 2015", a quick reference presenting economic, social, demographic, cultural and environmental information about the emirate from a statistical perspective in a simple, reader-friendly style and layout.

SCAD's DG praised the book, saying it highlights the comprehensive development the emirate is experiencing in various aspects of socioeconomic life, adding that the book consists of eight chapters beginning with General Information, followed by Population and Demography, the Labour Force, Social Statistics, the Economy, Industry and Business, Agriculture and the Environment, and finally, Energy and Water.

According to preliminary estimates, the population Abu Dhabi Emirate reached 2,657,026 people in mid-2014, of whom 1,750,855 were males and 906,171 were females and 506,411 (19.1 percent) were citizens. Around 261,720 citizens (51.7 percent) live in Abu Dhabi region, 215,170 citizens (42.5 percent) in Al Ain region.

The non-citizen population was 2,150,615 people, representing 80.9 percent of the total population of the Emirate in mid-2014. Around 1,365,013 (63.5 percent) of the non-citizens lived in Abu Dhabi region. Over the period 1960-2014, the population of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi grew at an average rate of 9.5 percent (one of the world's highest rates). The total population multiplied 133 times, with the number of citizens doubling 46 times due to increased fertility and naturalisation. The non-citizen population increased 243-fold, driven mainly by the influx of foreign workers.

In 2014, citizens made up 8.2 percent of the labour force, with females constituting 18.2 percent of the economically active citizens, up from 14.7 percent in 2005. In addition, the refined activity rate of female citizens to 29.9 percent in 2014, up from only 16.3 percent in 2005. The overall refined activity rate for the total population of working age (15 years and above) in 2014 was 79.9 percent.

Defined as the number of people not in the labour force to the people in the labour force, the economic dependency ratio has shown a mixed trend over the past few years, reaching 245.8 for citizens and 33.2 for non-citizens. As the figures show, the ratio is normally much higher for citizens compared with non-citizens.

Illiteracy rate among citizens (10 years and above) dropped from 80.12 percent in 1970 to 5.3 percent in 2013, and from 89.85 percent among female citizens (10 years and above) in 1970 to 7.4 percent in 2013. Total enrolment increased almost 50-fold, from 6972 in 1969-70 to 340,803 in 2013-14, while the number of schools multiplied 20 times, from 25 in 1969-70 to 438 in 2013-14. In the academic year 2013-14, there were 22.9 students per classroom, 14.6 students per teacher, and 1.6 teachers per classroom. The percentage of students enrolled in private education increased from 56.6 percent of the total enrolled in the academic year 2009-10 to 63.0 percent of total enrolment in 2013-14. On the other hand total enrolment in higher education increased by 48.6 percent from 34,190 to 50,809 students in 2013-14. The number of higher education graduates increased to 10,921 students in the academic year 2013-14, up 166.9 percent compared with the academic year 2008-09.

In a brief review of the developments in the health sector over the course of the past four decades, the book shows that the emirate had only 600 beds and only two hospitals in 1975. By 2013, there were 12 government hospitals, with 2503 beds, in addition to two military hospitals, and 587 public and private clinics. The number of doctors in government hospitals increased to 2402 in 2013. The private sector has also been expanding growing, especially with the improvement of the health insurance system that took the load off the government, with private health facilities increasing to 28 private hospitals and 335 clinics. The aforesaid developments came about gradually matching the population growth since the mid-1970's and were accompanied by parallel proportional growth in paramedical and support staff.

The chapter on social welfare policies reviews the remarkable developments in this area, showing a 40.4 percent rise in the number of welfare beneficiaries from 9,105 in 2002 to 12,787 in 2013.

The number of kindergartens under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Affairs increased from 31 in 2005 to 83 in 2011, with a ratio of 85.0 children per kindergarten. A total of 7,058 children attended kindergartens in 2011, up from 2,275 in 2005.

According to the economic section of the new book, Abu Dhabi's economy grew at an estimated 2.2 per cent last year despite the collapse in oil prices as its diversification efforts paid off, according to a report from Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi.

The emirate, the world's eighth-biggest producer of oil, said its GDP rose to Dh952.6 billion in 2014 from Dh931.7bn in 2013, when GDP rose 2.4 per cent.

The share of non-oil activities in GDP at constant prices increased to 49.5 per cent in 2014 from 38.7 per cent in 2004.

Away from oil, construction was the biggest contributor to growth. Construction had a 9.6 per cent share of non-oil GDP, while finance and insurance accounted for 7.2 per cent of the non-oil economy.