Qatar’s population shoots up this year

Qatar’s population has shot up to all-time high of 2,559,000, according to the latest figures released by the Ministry of Statistics and Development Statistics.

The figures, released on Saturday, said there was an increase of 1.3% compared to the figures of March 31 (2,527,000). It also shows a rise of 9.2% (185,000) compared to the figures of the same period a year ago.

At the end of April last year, the country had housed only 2,342,725 people. While there was a fall of 18,000 between February 28 (2,545,000) and March 31 this year, the latest figure has showed a rise of approximately 32,000 in the last one month, reports Gulf Times.

The previous highest population was recorded on February 28. The February figures were about 0.1% higher than the previous month when there were 2,423,000.

Usually, the country's population shows a decline between May and September, when large segments of the residents stay away on vacation. Quite too often in the past, it was found the month of July witnessed the lowest population.

For instance, in July 2015 the country had only 2,120,129 residents while the population was recorded as 2,346,732 in March the same year.

Available data shows the country has recorded the fastest growth in population in the last 15 years among the GCC states.

(Cover image courtesy: Aboobacker Mohamed)