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Where you could be born / Asia / Western Asia

Born in United Arab Emirates

About 1 in 1,270 people born in 2023 started life in United Arab Emirates. A boy can expect to live 82 years and a girl 84, up from 38 and 47 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 1,270
odds of being born here
104,000 births · Ranked 103rd of 230
82 / 84
years of life, boys / girls
Was 38 / 47 in 1950
$28,640
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 30th of 203 · extrapolated
86%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 40 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 302 in every 1,000 births to 6.0.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300400195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth82.0 years for boys, 84.2 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 56.0 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year10,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people3.0World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles98%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year1 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.5 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.2, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.20UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth31.9 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 35 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2018
8%Poorest fifth
15%Second
19%Middle
23%Fourth
35%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $28,640 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth35% / 8% (2018)World Bank PIP
Unemployment2.2% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises1.6% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person0.2% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming2% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed5% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment102% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Dubai, with 3.8 million people.

86%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Dubai3.8 million
Abu Dhabi1.8 million
Sharjah1.8 million
Al Ain City846,747
Ajman490,035
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Arabic78%
English50%
Malayalam7%
Pashto3%
Baluchi2%
Arabic is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Dubai4.2 million
Abu Dhabi3.3 million
Sharjah2.0 million
Ajman490,035
Ras Al Khaimah351,943
Fujairah308,638
Umm Al Quwain59,098

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

People on the move

About 1.5% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Canada, Kuwait, India.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Canada36,578
Kuwait28,593
India19,941
Residents born abroad74.0% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 1.5% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostCanada (36,578), Kuwait (28,593), India (19,941)UN DESA migrant stock

Safety nets

20% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

20%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 20242,349Our World in Data, from WHO

Now live it.

Born in United Arab Emirates, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in United Arab Emirates

Elsewhere in Asia

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences