According to the annual survey of the labour force by Dubai Statistics Centre, the total workforce of Dubai is 2.7 million people. Out of 2.7 million people, 700,000 people commute to Dubai from other emirates every day. The report has revealed that the number of employees working in Dubai has gone up by an average of 110,000 each year, for the last three years.
Unemployment rate
- The report has revealed that the unemployment rate was just 0.5 per cent last year, something the DSC says is “significantly lower than the global average.”
- Of all the unemployed people, 40 percent were under the age of 24 and almost all unemployed come under the age of 40.
- There are 2,851 unemployed Emiratis – a rise of half a percentage point from 2016 to 3.4 per cent.
- For female Emiratis, the jobless rate reached 4.9 per cent, also a small rise of half a per cent.
The survey defines unemployment as relating to “an individual who is not working while he or she is capable of doing so and is actively looking for a job.”
Key Findings
Employment for 2017 hit 2,778,000, while the number of employed people of working age rose by one percentage point to reach 83.1 per cent.
Females contribute as more than half of the total workforce, at 53.6 per cent, and there is an increase of four percentage points.
Biggest Employers
Nearly 28 per cent of working force is in construction industry, 20 per cent in the wholesale and retail trade, and 8 per cent in manufacturing.