Work permits in the United Arab Emirates are issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, but we located no yearly count of them. The one count we found is a quarter four years old: 537,974 new work permits from April to June 2022, changes of employer included, in a MoHRE report as relayed by Gulf News. So this report gives no number and no direction for the volume of hiring, only the direction of the rules: they hold, with no cap on foreign hires and a charge for each missing Emirati that rises on a schedule set in 2022. The UN counts 8,157,000 migrants living in the country in mid 2024, people and not permits. Net migration has been positive every year since 2020, people aged 15 to 64 grow by 484,907 by 2031, and every Gulf register that publishes a count rose from 2020 to 2025. The IMF expects 3.1 percent growth in 2026.
UN count
Migrants living in the UAE, mid 2024, a count of people
8,157,000
The rules
No cap on foreign hires; the charge rises on a schedule set in 2022
Holding
Projection of the source
More aged 15 to 64 in 2041 than in 2026
1,420,000
The rule
Emirati share of skilled jobs due by end 2026
10%
Workforce Migration Report 2026, United Arab Emirates3
11.5 million people, 35 percent more than in 2015
The United Arab Emirates has 11,513,149 people, 3,007,912 more than in 2015. Most of the growth comes from people moving in: in 2023, the last year the UN estimates, net migration added 300,004 people and births minus deaths 92,697. The economy grew 4.0 percent in 2024, and output per head, 50,274 US dollars, is more than three and a half times the world average.
People living in the United Arab Emirates in 2025, mid year
11,513,149
35.4 percent more than in 2015. People aged 65 and over were 1.8 percent of the population in 2025.
GDP in 2024, billion US dollars at current prices
552.3
At current prices and exchange rates.
GDP per head in 2024
50,274dollars
367 percent of the world average of 13,717 US dollars in 2024.
Real growth in 2024
4.0%
Against 2.9 percent across the world. Over 2020 to 2024 the economy grew 11.3 percent in all, the world 13.2 percent (our estimate from the yearly rates).
People aged 15 and over in work, 2025
76.9%
Against 58.1 percent across the world. ILO estimate.
A new law, then targets
2 February 2022The labour law of 2021 takes effect for the private sector.
1 January 2023Firms short of Emirati staff start paying for each post.
Sources: World Bank, World Development Indicators (population, GDP, GDP per head, growth, and the ILO estimate of employment, SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS), retrieved 27 September 2026. Population is the mid year estimate. Key dates: Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 (UAE legislation portal); MoHRE Ministerial Resolution 279 of 2022, article 3; retrieved 27 September 2026.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, United Arab Emirates4
Net migration drives growth; 1.8 percent are aged 65 and over
From 2021 to 2023 net migration added at least three times as many people as births minus deaths
In 2023, the last year the UN estimates, births minus deaths came to +92,697 and net migration to +300,004. 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 13.93 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 1.8 to 2.6 percent by 2041
0 to 1415 to 6465 and over
Source: World Bank, population estimates and projections, retrieved 27 September 2026.
552.3 billion US dollars in 2024, then our arithmetic to 2031
Billion US dollars, 2024 pricesOur arithmetic on IMF growth
Growth under each year: World Bank to 2024, IMF forecast after. The dotted line is our arithmetic: 552.3 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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Workforce Migration Report 2026, United Arab Emirates5
No yearly count of work permits; 8,157,000 migrants in 2024
Migrants living in the UAE, a count of people, rose sixfold since 1990
8,157,000 migrants in mid 2024 against 1,302,298 in 1990: people with their families, a stock, not permits issued in a year.
Source: United Nations Population Division, International Migrant Stock 2024, Table 1, migrants at mid year by country of destination, retrieved 25 September 2026. For the UAE the UN counts foreign citizens; its counts come every five years, then 2024.
No UAE authority publishes a yearly count of work permits that we could locate. The chart shows the UN's estimate of migrants living in the country as context: people, not permits, a stock at mid year, not a yearly flow.
Why there is no national count
A work permit is the document the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation issues so that a person may work for a licensed private employer (Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021, article 6). Government staff and domestic workers fall outside the labour law of 2021.
We located no yearly total of permits for 2019 to 2025. The one quarter we found, April to June 2022, had 537,974 new work permits, a figure from the Ministry's quarterly report as relayed by Gulf News, not a yearly count.
The UN counts every foreign citizen living in the country, workers and their families together, so the chart runs far above any count of work permits.
Sources: Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021, articles 1 and 3; MoHRE quarterly labour market report for the second quarter of 2022, as relayed by Gulf News on 17 August 2022; United Nations Population Division, International Migrant Stock 2024; retrieved 27 September 2026.
Two MoHRE counts of 2022: new work permits and employees on its register
New work permits, April to June 2022, one quarter
537,974
Private sector employees on the MoHRE register, 30 June 2022, Emiratis included, a stock
5,376,842
A new permit is issued for each hire, so the quarter includes changes of employer; the register counts people employed on one day. Neither is a yearly count of permits, so no ratio is printed.
Source: MoHRE quarterly labour market report for the second quarter of 2022, as relayed by Gulf News on 17 August 2022; retrieved 27 September 2026.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, United Arab Emirates6
Every Gulf register rose from 2020 to 2025
Migrants for every 100 residents, a count of people, in 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 and not permits. Kuwait is the state closest to the UAE 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 at a date, not permits issued in a year, 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, active work permits
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.
Every Gulf register of foreign employees, and Bahrain's of active work permits, rose from 2020 to 2025, by 15.5 percent in Kuwait up to 66.7 percent in Saudi Arabia. The UAE publishes none, and this report gives no direction for its volume. Counted as people, there were 74.2 migrants for every 100 residents of the UAE in 2024, against 67.9 in Kuwait and 50.3 across the six Gulf states.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, United Arab Emirates7
India is 39.8 percent of the UAE's migrants, a count of people
Migrants living in the UAE by citizenship, people not permits, 2015 to 2024
No UAE authority publishes permits or employees by citizenship, so this page shows the UN's estimate of migrants, families included: a stock, not permits. The UN keeps each citizenship's share the same in all three years, so the lines show the growth of the total, 18.9 percent from 2015 to 2024, not a change of structure.
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 3,248,545 migrants in the UAE (39.8 percent), Bangladesh 1,024,949 (12.6), the Philippines 528,527 (6.5), Indonesia 298,351 (3.7) and Nepal 26,097 (0.3): together 62.8 percent. Vietnam and Uzbekistan, the other two of the seven sourcing centres, are not reported.
Citizenship
2015
2020
2024
Share 2024
India
2,731,583
2,861,045
3,248,545
39.8%
Bangladesh
861,853
902,689
1,024,949
12.6%
Pakistan
783,994
821,140
932,356
11.4%
Egypt
707,918
741,460
841,883
10.3%
Philippines
444,426
465,483
528,527
6.5%
Indonesia
250,877
262,762
298,351
3.7%
Yemen
161,805
169,470
192,423
2.4%
Jordan
132,965
139,263
158,125
1.9%
Nepal
21,945
22,984
26,097
0.3%
Other origins
761,634
797,704
905,744
11.1%
All origins
6,859,000
7,184,000
8,157,000
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, United Arab Emirates8
Emirati targets, 1.42 million more people aged 15 to 64
The rules as they stand on 27 September 2026
Permit
No one may work in the UAE, and no employer may recruit or employ anyone, without a work permit from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.
No fees
The employer may not charge the worker the fees and costs of recruitment and employment, or collect them directly or indirectly.
90 days
Either side may end a contract for a legitimate reason with written notice of at least 30 and at most 90 days, as the contract sets.
6 months
A contract runs for a fixed term and may be renewed by agreement. A probation period may last at most six months.
10%
Firms with 50 or more employees must raise the Emirati share of skilled jobs by 2 points a year, to 10 percent by 2026.
9,000
A firm short of its target pays 6,000 dirhams a month for each Emirati missing from January 2023, 1,000 more each year: 9,000 in 2026, about 2,450 US dollars.
20 to 49
Firms with 20 to 49 employees in listed sectors must employ at least one Emirati and keep those already employed.
Sources: Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021, articles 6, 8, 9 and 43, with its amendments (MoHRE consolidated text); MoHRE Ministerial Resolution 279 of 6 June 2022, articles 2 and 3; MoHRE, Emiratisation targets page; World Bank, PA.NUS.FCRF (3.6725 dirhams per dollar, 2025). Retrieved 27 September 2026.
About 1.42 million more people aged 15 to 64 by 2041
The World Bank's projection gives 9,629,157 in 2026 and 11,053,373 in 2041, a rise of 14.8 percent.
Source: World Bank, population estimates and projections (SP.POP.1564.TO, based on UN World Population Prospects 2024), retrieved 27 September 2026.
New work permits, April to June 2022, one MoHRE quarter
537,974
27 percent more than in the same quarter of 2021; the only quarter we located.
MoHRE quarterly report, relayed by Gulf News on 17 August 2022, retrieved 27 September 2026
Unemployment in 2025, against 4.8 percent across the world
2.2%
Few people in the country are looking for work, under half the world rate.
World Bank, SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS, an ILO estimate, retrieved 27 September 2026
India's share of migrants in the UAE, 2024, a count of people
39.8%
Bangladesh 12.6 percent, Pakistan 11.4, Egypt 10.3 and the Philippines 6.5.
United Nations Population Division, International Migrant Stock 2024, retrieved 25 September 2026
Workforce Migration Report 2026, United Arab Emirates9
No yearly count of work permits; the rules hold
Where each count is heading
No UAE authority publishes a yearly count of work permits, so there is no estimate, no line and no direction for the volume of hiring: only the rules have a direction.
The rules on foreign hiresholding
Holding means no cap on foreign hires; the Emiratisation charge rises 1,000 dirhams a year on a schedule set in 2022.
New work permits, one quarterno series
537,974 from April to June 2022, changes of employer included; no later count is published.
Populationrising
11.51 million in 2025, 13.14 million in 2036.
Sources: MoHRE, Resolution 279 of 2022, article 3, and its report for the second quarter of 2022, relayed by Gulf News; World Bank, SP.POP.TOTL; retrieved 27 September 2026.
The dated numbers around foreign hiring
With no yearly count there is no line and no direction for the volume; these are the dated numbers around it.
People aged 15 to 6414.8 percent more by 2041
9.63 million in 2026 and 11.05 million in 2041, about 94,900 more each year, on the World Bank's projection.
Net migration, 2023300,004 more arrived
All residents, the UN estimate of the latest year; positive every year since 2020.
Economic growth, real3.1 percent in 2026
The IMF's April 2026 outlook: 4.0 percent in 2024, 5.8 in 2025, 3.1 in 2026.
Work permits a year per 1,000 people aged 15 to 64no rate
No UAE register counts 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 direction of the rules on this page. Each could move foreign hiring up or down.
Targets after 2026
The Emirati target reaches 10 percent at the end of 2026, and we located no resolution for later years. A higher target, or more firms covered, would raise what a firm pays when it falls short.
The payment keeps rising
The monthly payment for each Emirati missing rises by 1,000 dirhams a year, and the resolution states no end year. On that step it would be 10,000 in 2027, about 2,720 US dollars (our arithmetic).
Slower growth in 2026
The IMF's April 2026 outlook puts growth at 3.1 percent in 2026 after 5.8 in 2025. Its effect on hiring is not measured: no UAE count of permits or employees for 2026 is published.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, United Arab Emirates10
How to read this report
What the national count is
Work permits are issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, but we located no yearly count of them: the one count is a quarter of 2022. The charts of migrants count people living in the country, the UN's estimate at mid year, families included: a stock, not permits issued in a year.
What the direction means
Where no count exists we give no number and no direction for the volume of hiring, only the direction of the rules, read from dated UAE instruments; the other numbers are context. Projections are dashed or dotted. Net migration for 2024 and 2025 is the UN's projection (a star on page 4).
How the numbers are made
Migrants for every 100 residents is our calculation for all six Gulf states: the UN count divided by the World Bank's population of the same year. The change of each Gulf register from 2020 to 2025 is our arithmetic. The figures for 2031, 2036 and 2041 are the World Bank's projection of people aged 15 to 64; we add no estimate of our own.
Numbers, dates and words
Past counts are printed exactly, rates to one decimal. Dirham amounts are converted at 3.6725 per US dollar, the World Bank's official rate for 2025. Counts of people (migrants, employees on a register) are named as such. Work permits appear only where a count exists: the one quarter of 2022 and Bahrain.
Sources
Every source retrieved 27 September 2026 unless its line says otherwise. The UAE official sites refuse our network, so their pages were read in copies of 2025 and 2026 in the Internet Archive. Photographs from Wikimedia Commons are used under the licence named beside each, those from Pexels under the Pexels licence. Page numbers after each source show where it is used.
United Nations Population Division, International Migrant Stock 2024, Table 1, migrants at mid year by destination and origin, retrieved 25 September 2026 (cover, pages 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8). un.org/development/desa/pd
World Bank, World Development Indicators and population estimates and projections: population SP.POP.TOTL, ages SP.POP.0014.TO, SP.POP.1564.TO and SP.POP.65UP.TO, births SP.DYN.CBRT.IN, deaths SP.DYN.CDRT.IN, net migration SM.POP.NETM, GDP NY.GDP.MKTP.CD, GDP per head NY.GDP.PCAP.CD, growth NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG, employment SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS, unemployment SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS, official exchange rate PA.NUS.FCRF (pages 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9). data.worldbank.org
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook, April 2026, real GDP growth (NGDP_RPCH) for 2025 to 2031 (pages 2, 4 and 9). imf.org/external/datamapper
UAE legislation portal, Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 on the regulation of labour relations, issued 20 September 2021, Official Gazette 712, in force 2 February 2022; the amended English text published by MoHRE (pages 3, 5 and 8). uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations/1541
Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Ministerial Resolution 279 of 6 June 2022 on Emiratisation rates and contributions, under Cabinet Resolution 19/5m of 2022; Emiratisation targets page (pages 2, 3, 8 and 9). mohre.gov.ae
Gulf News, MoHRE labour market report for the second quarter of 2022 (new work permits; private sector employees on its register at 30 June 2022), as relayed on 17 August 2022 (pages 2, 5, 8 and 9). gulfnews.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 portal; Labour Market Regulatory Authority, Bahrain, Labour Market Indicators 2025 Q4 (new work permits); Ministry of Labour, Qatar, open data portal; Central Statistical Bureau, Kuwait, Labour Market Information System (pages 2, 6 and 9). stats.gov.sa, data.gov.om, blmi.lmra.gov.bh, data.gov.qa, lmis.csb.gov.kw
Internet Archive, Wayback Machine copies of uaelegislation.gov.ae and mohre.gov.ae, captured in 2025 and 2026, read where the official sites refused our network. web.archive.org
Photographs and flags
Pexels: Dubai at night, Nihongraphy (cover); Abu Dhabi at sunset, Gabriele Niek (page 3); dunes near Al Ain, Eslames1; a dhow on Dubai Creek, Walid Photoz; Dubai Marina at night, AJ Ahamad (back cover). Wikimedia Commons: the road up Jebel Jais, Ras al Khaimah, Tashmetova808, CC BY-SA 4.0; towers on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, EditQ, CC0. Flags: circle-flags by HatScripts, MIT licence.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, United Arab Emirates
werklist.com
What this report answers
What does the United Arab Emirates publish about foreign workers, and what does it leave out?
No UAE authority publishes a yearly count of work permits that we could locate. The UN counts 8,157,000 migrants in 2024, three in four residents; the one quarter of permits we found, April to June 2022, had 537,974 new work permits.
How fast has the foreign workforce grown since 2020?
The UN counts 8,157,000 migrants in 2024, 18.9 percent more than in 2015. Net migration has been positive every year since 2020 and added 300,004 people in 2023.
How does it compare with the other Gulf registers?
In 2024 there were 74.2 migrants for every 100 residents of the UAE, against 67.9 in Kuwait and 50.3 across the six Gulf states. Every Gulf register that publishes a count rose from 2020 to 2025, by 15.5% in Kuwait up to 66.7% in Saudi Arabia.
Which rules apply to employers who hire from abroad?
No one may work without a work permit from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, and the employer may not charge the worker recruitment fees. Firms with 50 or more employees must reach 10% Emiratis in skilled jobs by 2026, or pay 9,000 dirhams a month for each Emirati missing.
What is the direction of foreign hiring?
The rules hold, with no cap on foreign hires and a charge for each missing Emirati that rises on a schedule set in 2022. With no yearly count of work permits there is no direction for the volume; people aged 15 to 64 grow by 484,907 by 2031, and the IMF expects growth of 3.1 percent in 2026.
How is the estimate made, and what are its limits?
With no yearly count of work permits there is no estimate, no line and no direction for the volume of hiring. The report gives the direction of the rules, read from dated UAE instruments; net migration, the working age, IMF growth and the other Gulf registers stand beside it.
The full report answers each question with its figures, charts and sources. Request the full report
Photographs: Dubai at night by Nihongraphy (Pexels); Abu Dhabi at sunset by Gabriele Niek (Pexels); Dunes near Al Ain by Eslames1 (Pexels); A dhow on Dubai Creek by Walid Photoz (Pexels); The road up Jebel Jais, Ras al Khaimah by Tashmetova808, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons); Towers on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai by EditQ, CC0 (Wikimedia Commons).
India
Bangladesh
Pakistan
Egypt
Philippines
Indonesia
Yemen
Jordan
Nepal