Nearly 80 percent of the expatriate population is “economically active”, compared with only 45 percent of Emiratis, a recent market study shows. Nearly 20 percent of the population were voluntarily unemployed while 2.3 percent were looking for work, records from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed.

The Report on Economic & Social Dimension 2009 showed that the population of the UAE reached 8.19 million and was continuing to grow at a rapid rate despite the global downturn, UAE daily The National reported, citing the report. In 2008, the population stood at 8.07 million. By last year, it had risen by 125,000. The report also showed that the majority of the population, 81.9 percent, was in the 15 to 59 age group. Just 1.3 percent were aged 60 or over.

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