Foreign employees on the Ministry of Labour's records rose every year from 2020 to 2025, but more slowly each year since 2022. The Ministry had 1,957,633 foreign employees on its records in 2025, 8.9 percent more than in 2024 and 61.8 percent more than in 2020, the second fastest rise of the Gulf registers after Saudi Arabia: a stock of everyone on record, not permits issued in a year. No yearly count of work permits is published, so this report makes no estimate: it gives the count as observed to 2025 and the direction of the rules. The rules hold: Law 9 of 2026 amends the Labour Law without any new limit on entry. The count for 2026 is not yet published, and the IMF's April 2026 outlook expects the economy to shrink 8.6 percent in 2026, the deepest fall in the Gulf, before 8.6 percent growth in 2027. People aged 15 to 64 rise from 2.52 million in 2026 to 2.65 million in 2031 on the World Bank's projection.
Observed
Foreign employees on the Ministry of Labour's records, 2025, a stock
1,957,633
Our estimate
The direction of the rules and the count of foreign employees
The rulesHolding
The count to 2025Rose
Projection of the source
More people aged 15 to 64 in 2041 than in 2026
381,000
The rule
Minimum basic wage a month in riyals since 2021, about 275 US dollars
1,000
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Qatar3
2.97 million people, 627,658 more than in 2015
Qatar has 2,972,215 people, 627,658 more than in 2015, though the count dipped in 2021. Births outnumber deaths by about 24,000 a year, while net migration swings widely, from 50,433 more leaving than arriving in 2020 to 80,004 more arriving in 2022. Output per head, 72,525 US dollars, is five times the world average, and 83.3 percent of the people are aged 15 to 64.
People living in Qatar in 2025, mid year
2,972,215
26.8 percent more than in 2015. People aged 65 and over were 1.7 percent of the population in 2025.
GDP in 2025, billion US dollars at current prices
215.6
At current prices and exchange rates.
GDP per head in 2025
72,525dollars
503 percent of the world average of 14,406 US dollars in 2025.
Real growth in 2025
2.9%
The World Bank's figure; the IMF's April 2026 outlook gives 2.8 percent. Against 2.9 percent across the world. Over 2021 to 2025 the economy grew 13.7 percent in all, the world grew 20.0 percent (our estimate from the yearly rates).
People aged 15 and over in work, 2025
86.9%
Against 58.1 percent across the world. ILO estimate.
Two laws, two dates
17 April 2025The law on localising private sector jobs takes effect.
25 June 2026Law 9 of 2026 amending the Labour Law is published in the Official Gazette.
Sources: World Bank, World Development Indicators (population, GDP, GDP per head, growth, and the ILO estimate of employment), retrieved 27 September 2026. Population is the mid year estimate. Key dates: Law 12 of 2024, article 17; Law 9 of 2026, Official Gazette 11 of 25 June 2026; Al Meezan, retrieved 27 September 2026.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Qatar4
More births than deaths, and net migration that swings year to year
From 2021 to 2023 net migration added more people each year than births minus deaths
In 2023, the last year the UN estimates, births minus deaths came to +23,846 and net migration to +39,995. Years marked * are the UN's projection.
Births minus deathsNet migration
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (net migration and crude birth and death rates from UN World Population Prospects 2024, whose estimates end in 2023; 2024 and 2025 are its projection), retrieved 27 September 2026. Births minus deaths is our arithmetic on the crude rates. Not yet published: births minus deaths for 2025*.
About 3.57 million people by 2041 on the World Bank's projection
Estimated to 2025, then the World Bank's projection in the lighter line.
Source: World Bank, SP.POP.TOTL (World Development Indicators); World Bank, population projection based on UN World Population Prospects 2024; retrieved 27 September 2026.
The share aged 65 and over rises from 1.7 to 2.0 percent by 2041
0 to 1415 to 6465 and over
Source: World Bank, population estimates and projections, retrieved 27 September 2026.
215.6 billion US dollars in 2025, then our arithmetic to 2031
Billion US dollars, 2025 pricesOur arithmetic on IMF growth
Growth under each year: World Bank to 2025, IMF forecast after. The dotted line is our arithmetic: 215.6 compounded with the IMF rates. Sources: World Bank, NY.GDP.MKTP.CD; IMF, World Economic Outlook April 2026; retrieved 27 September 2026.
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Foreign employees up 61.8 percent from 2020 to 2025
Growth has slowed every year since 2022, from 13.0 to 8.9 percent
Foreign employees on the Ministry of Labour's records numbered 1,957,633 in 2025, against 1,797,897 in 2024: a stock at a date, not permits issued in a year.
Sources: Ministry of Labour (2020 to 2025); retrieved 27 September 2026. A stock at a date, not permits issued in a year.
This page shows the foreign employees on the Ministry of Labour's records, a yearly count for the private sector: a stock that holds renewals and everyone already present, so it runs above any yearly count of new work permits.
The count of foreign employees: a stock
Qatar publishes no yearly count of the work permits the Ministry of Labour issues under the Labour Law (Law 14 of 2004). Its closest count is the foreign employees on the Ministry's records in the private sector, on the State of Qatar Open Data portal.
It is a stock, not a flow of new work permits: it holds everyone renewed or already present, the dataset states no reference date inside the year, and a second Ministry dataset of the whole expatriate workforce by sex gives higher totals.
The Ministry's quarterly bulletin counted 30,156 new recruitment requests from October to December 2024 (The Peninsula). One request can cover several visas.
Sources: Ministry of Labour, open data portal (2020 to 2025), a stock at a date, not permits issued in a year; Ministry of Labour quarterly bulletin, relayed by The Peninsula on 26 January 2025; retrieved 27 September 2026.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Qatar6
The second fastest rise of the Gulf registers since 2020
Migrants for every 100 residents, a count of people: Qatar, the UAE and the Gulf
The UN's count of migrants at mid year, people with their families, divided by the World Bank's population, one definition for every Gulf state: stocks of people, not permits and not yearly flows. The UAE is the state closest to Qatar on this measure; the third line takes Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain together.
Sources: United Nations Population Division, International Migrant Stock 2024, Table 1 (migrants at mid year), retrieved 25 September 2026; World Bank, SP.POP.TOTL (population at mid year), retrieved 27 September 2026. Werklist calculation.
Foreign employees on each Gulf register, 2020 and 2025
Stocks of people at a date, not permits, and each register counts its own way: Saudi Arabia and Kuwait leave domestic staff out, Qatar counts the private sector, Bahrain active work permits. Bahrain alone also publishes new work permits: 129,149 in 2025, 19.7 percent of its stock.
2020
2025
Change
Saudi Arabia
6,353,687
10,589,566
+66.7%
Qatar
1,209,612
1,957,633
+61.8%
Oman
1,429,052
1,816,185
+27.1%
Bahrain
535,022
654,672
+22.4%
Kuwait
1,586,494
1,832,522
+15.5%
UAE
not published
not published
Sources: General Authority for Statistics, Saudi Arabia (social insurance register at the end of Q4, subscribers instead of subscriptions from 2023); Ministry of Labour, Qatar, open data portal; National Centre for Statistics and Information, Oman; Labour Market Regulatory Authority, Bahrain (active work permits at the end of Q4, new work permits); Central Statistical Bureau, Kuwait (31 December); retrieved 27 September 2026. Werklist calculation.
Qatar's register of foreign employees rose 61.8 percent from 2020 to 2025, second only to Saudi Arabia's 66.7 percent; Kuwait's rose 15.5 percent. These are counts of people at a date, not permits. Counted as people by the UN, there were 81.8 migrants for every 100 residents of Qatar in 2024, the highest share of the six Gulf states, against 74.2 in the UAE and 50.3 across the six.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Qatar7
India, Bangladesh and Nepal: 55 percent of Qatar's migrants
Migrants living in Qatar by citizenship, people not permits, 2015, 2020 and 2024
Qatar's registers split Qatari and non Qatari only, so this page shows the UN's estimate of migrants, families included: a stock of people, not permits. From 2015 to 2020 India's share fell from 38.3 to 31.5 percent while Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka grew; from 2020 to 2024 the UN keeps every share the same.
The sourcing centres of WerklistOther origins
Source: United Nations Population Division, International Migrant Stock 2024, Table 1, migrants at mid year by destination and citizenship, retrieved 25 September 2026. A stock of migrants, families included, not work permits.
In 2024 India counts 736,955 migrants in Qatar (31.5 percent), Bangladesh 274,697 (11.8), Nepal 266,580 (11.4), the Philippines 178,516 (7.6) and Indonesia 46,021 (2.0): together 1,502,769, 64.3 percent. Vietnam and Uzbekistan, the other two of the seven sourcing centres, are not reported.
Citizenship
2015
2020
2024
Share 2024
India
799,493
688,077
736,955
31.5%
Bangladesh
198,373
256,478
274,697
11.8%
Nepal
187,390
248,899
266,580
11.4%
Pakistan
164,972
230,830
247,227
10.6%
Egypt
202,566
179,900
192,680
8.2%
Philippines
183,900
166,676
178,516
7.6%
Sri Lanka
67,780
151,019
161,747
6.9%
Indonesia
53,313
42,969
46,021
2.0%
Other origins
232,213
217,152
232,577
10.0%
All origins
2,090,000
2,182,000
2,337,000
100.0%
Source: United Nations Population Division, International Migrant Stock 2024, Table 1, migrants at mid year by destination and citizenship, retrieved 25 September 2026. A stock of migrants, families included, not work permits.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Qatar8
Qataris have priority; 381,000 more aged 15 to 64 by 2041
The rules as they stand on 27 September 2026
Priority
Qataris have priority in hiring. A work permit for a foreign hire needs no qualified Qatari registered for the job, a residence permit and a medical check.
5 years
A work permit runs with the residence permit, and for no more than five years unless the Ministry of Labour agrees.
No fees
A licensed recruitment agency may not take recruitment fees or any other charges from the people it brings in from abroad.
1,000 riyals
The minimum basic wage is 1,000 riyals a month, about 275 US dollars, plus at least 500 for housing and 300 for food when the employer does not provide them.
Job change
Since September 2020 an employee from abroad may move to another employer, under the rules the Ministry sets.
Certificate
Under Law 9 of 2026, in trades on a Ministry list, hiring needs a training and test certificate from a centre the Ministry accredits.
1 month
Employers must report every vacancy to the Ministry within a month, and the Ministry may reserve jobs for Qataris with Cabinet approval.
Sources: Labour Law, Law 14 of 2004, articles 18, 23 and 33; Law 9 of 2026 (Official Gazette 11 of 25 June 2026), article 3, adding article 23 bis; Decree-Law 19 of 2020, article 1; Ministerial Decision 25 of 2020, article 2; Law 12 of 2024, articles 4 and 7; all on Al Meezan; World Bank, PA.NUS.FCRF (3.64 riyals per dollar, 2025). Retrieved 27 September 2026.
About 381,000 more people aged 15 to 64 by 2041
The World Bank's projection gives 2,517,325 in 2026 and 2,898,521 in 2041, a rise of 15.1 percent.
Source: World Bank, population estimates and projections (SP.POP.1564.TO, based on UN World Population Prospects 2024), retrieved 27 September 2026.
New recruitment requests, October to December 2024, relayed by the press
30,156
Requests, not permits: one request can cover several visas.
Ministry of Labour quarterly bulletin, relayed by The Peninsula on 26 January 2025, retrieved 27 September 2026
Unemployment in 2025, against 4.8 percent across the world
0.1%
Almost no one in the country is looking for work, so there are few people at home to hire from.
World Bank, SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS (ILO estimate), retrieved 27 September 2026
India's share of migrants in Qatar, 2024, a count of people
31.5%
Bangladesh 11.8 percent, Nepal 11.4 and the Philippines 7.6.
United Nations Population Division, International Migrant Stock 2024, retrieved 25 September 2026
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Qatar9
No yearly permit count: the rules hold, the count rose to 2025
The rules hold; foreign employees rose to 2025
Qatar publishes no yearly count of work permits, so there is no estimate, no line and no direction of the volume: this card gives the rules and the counts as observed.
The rulesholding
Law 9 of 2026 amends the Labour Law and adds no limit on entry.
Foreign employees, a stockrose to 2025
1,957,633 on the Ministry of Labour's records in 2025, 159,736 more than in 2024 (8.9 percent). The count for 2026 is not yet published.
Populationrising
2.97 million in 2025, 3.20 million in 2031, 3.37 million in 2036, on the World Bank's projection.
Sources: Law 9 of 2026 (Official Gazette 11 of 25 June 2026), Al Meezan; Ministry of Labour, open data portal, 2020 to 2025; World Bank, population projection based on UN World Population Prospects 2024; retrieved 27 September 2026.
More people of working age, and a fall in output in 2026
With no yearly count there is no line and no direction of the volume; these numbers are given as they stand.
People aged 15 to 6415.1 percent more by 2041
2.52 million in 2026 and 2.90 million in 2041, about 25,400 more each year, on the World Bank's projection.
Net migration, 202339,995 more arrived
All residents, the UN estimate of the latest year.
Economic growth, realminus 8.6 percent in 2026
The IMF's April 2026 outlook: 2.4 percent in 2024, 2.8 in 2025 (the World Bank gives 2.9), then 8.6 in 2027.
Work permits a year per 1,000 people aged 15 to 64no rate
The Ministry's count is a stock, not work permits a year, so there is no rate and no peers' line. Bahrain, the one Gulf peer with a count, issued 104.0 new work permits per 1,000 in 2025.
Sources: World Bank population projections and SM.POP.NETM (UN World Population Prospects 2024); IMF, World Economic Outlook April 2026; Labour Market Regulatory Authority, Bahrain, new work permits 2025; retrieved 27 September 2026.
What could change this
Three changes sit outside the rules and the count on this page. Each could move foreign hiring up or down.
The list of certified trades
Law 9 of 2026 lets the Ministry list the trades that need a training and test certificate before work starts. The list is set by the Minister; a long one would add time and cost to hiring from abroad.
Jobs reserved for Qataris
Under the localisation law, in force since 17 April 2025, the Ministry may reserve jobs for Qataris and the children of Qatari mothers, with Cabinet approval. Each job on that list closes to foreign hires.
Output falls 8.6 percent in 2026 on the IMF's outlook
The IMF's April 2026 outlook puts growth at minus 8.6 percent in 2026, the deepest fall it expects in the Gulf, then 8.6 percent in 2027. Its effect on hiring is not measured: the Ministry's count for 2026 is not yet published.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Qatar10
How to read this report
What the count of foreign employees is
Qatar publishes no yearly count of the work permits the Ministry of Labour issues under the Labour Law. The closest count is the foreign employees on the Ministry of Labour's records, a yearly count for the private sector on the State of Qatar Open Data portal. It is a stock at a date, not a count of permits issued in a year.
What the direction of the rules means
Where no yearly estimate exists we give no number and no direction of the volume. The rules are read from dated instruments of Qatar; the count of foreign employees is printed as observed to 2025. Observed numbers are drawn as solid lines, projections as dashed or dotted ones.
How the numbers are made
We read the rules as they stand on 27 September 2026 and the count of foreign employees on the Ministry of Labour's records by year. The yearly changes in that count, the change of each Gulf register from 2020 to 2025, migrants for every 100 residents and the riyal conversions are our arithmetic. The report makes no yearly estimate of work permits of its own.
Numbers, dates and words
Past counts are printed exactly, rates to one decimal. Riyal amounts are converted at 3.64 per US dollar, the World Bank's official rate for 2025. No count of work permits is published, so the report counts foreign employees, a stock of people; the UN count of migrants is a stock of people too.
Sources
Every source retrieved 27 September 2026 unless its line says otherwise. The laws were read on Al Meezan, the official legal portal of Qatar, in Arabic where no English text of the amendment exists. Photographs from Pexels, under the Pexels licence.
Ministry of Labour, Dataset total-expatriate-workforce-and-gcc-nationals-in-the-state-of-qatar, the Ministry of Labour dataset of foreign employees in the private sector, 2020 to 2025, metadata modified 2026-09-26. www.data.gov.qa/explore/dataset/total-expatriate-workforce-and-gcc-nationals-in-the-state-of-qatar/
World Bank, World Development Indicators and population estimates and projections (population, age, births, deaths, net migration, GDP, employment, unemployment) and the official exchange rate PA.NUS.FCRF. data.worldbank.org
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook, April 2026, real GDP growth. imf.org/external/datamapper
Al Meezan, Qatari legal portal, Labour Law, Law 14 of 2004 (Official Gazette 9 of 6 July 2004), articles 18, 23 and 33; Law 9 of 2026 amending it, issued 11 June 2026, Official Gazette 11 of 25 June 2026. almeezan.qa
Al Meezan, Qatari legal portal, Law 12 of 2024 on localising private sector jobs, Official Gazette 14 of 17 October 2024; Decree-Law 19 of 2020 amending Law 21 of 2015 on the entry, exit and residence of expatriates; Ministerial Decision 25 of 2020 on the minimum wage. almeezan.qa
The Peninsula, Ministry of Labour statistical bulletin for the fourth quarter of 2024, as relayed on 26 January 2025. thepeninsulaqatar.com
Gulf national registers, General Authority for Statistics, Saudi Arabia, register based labour market statistics Q1 2026; National Centre for Statistics and Information, Oman; Labour Market Regulatory Authority, Bahrain, Labour Market Indicators 2025 Q4; Central Statistical Bureau, Kuwait, Labour Market Information System (pages 2, 6 and 9). stats.gov.sa, data.gov.om, blmi.lmra.gov.bh, lmis.csb.gov.kw
United Nations Population Division, International Migrant Stock 2024, Table 1, migrants at mid year by destination and origin, retrieved 25 September 2026. un.org/development/desa/pd
Photographs and flags
Pexels: Doha at night, Lucca Belliboni (cover); Doha under a full moon, Akbar Nemati (page 3 and back cover); Doha from the waterfront at sunset, Mohamed Akram; Doha towers at twilight, Sajjad Naqvi; Lusail from the air, Brian Candy; a pastel street in Qatar, Emre Gencer. Flags: circle-flags by HatScripts, MIT licence.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Qatar
werklist.com
What this report answers
What does Qatar publish about foreign workers, and what does it leave out?
No yearly count of work permits. The Ministry of Labour publishes a stock: 1,957,633 foreign employees on its private sector records in 2025, 8.9% more than in 2024.
How fast has the foreign workforce grown since 2020?
The count rose every year from 2020 to 2025, from 1,209,612, by 61.8% in all, but more slowly each year since 2022, from 13.0% to 8.9%.
How does it compare with the other Gulf registers?
Qatar's register rose 61.8% from 2020 to 2025, second only to Saudi Arabia's 66.7%; Kuwait's rose 15.5%. Qatar has the highest share of migrants in the Gulf, 81.8 for every 100 residents in 2024.
Which rules apply to employers who hire from abroad?
Qataris have priority: a work permit needs no qualified Qatari registered for the job. Recruitment agencies may not charge the people they bring in, the minimum basic wage is 1,000 riyals a month, and from 25 July 2026 listed trades need a training and test certificate.
What is the direction of foreign hiring?
The rules hold: Law 9 of 2026 amends the Labour Law without any new limit on entry. With no yearly count of work permits there is no direction of the volume; the count of 2026 is not yet published, and the IMF expects the economy to shrink 8.6 percent in 2026 before 8.6 percent growth in 2027.
How is the estimate made, and what are its limits?
Qatar publishes no yearly count of work permits, so the report makes no estimate, draws no line and gives no direction of the volume. It gives the count of foreign employees as observed to 2025 and the direction of the rules, read from dated laws.
The full report answers each question with its figures, charts and sources. Request the full report
Photographs: Doha at night by Lucca Belliboni (Pexels); Doha under a full moon by Akbar Nemati (Pexels); Doha from the waterfront at sunset by Mohamed Akram (Pexels); Doha towers at twilight by Sajjad Naqvi (Pexels); Lusail from the air by Brian Candy (Pexels); A pastel street in Qatar by Emre Gencer (Pexels); Doha under a full moon by Akbar Nemati (Pexels).
India
Bangladesh
Nepal
Pakistan
Egypt
Philippines
Sri Lanka
Indonesia