Concerns raised over falling fertility rates of national women

UAE women are having fewer babies than ever before, leading to fears of a demographic implosion similar to Europe, officials said.

Those fears are more acute because of the vast imbalance between UAE nationals and expatriates, with calls for a policy to encourage women to have more children.

Statistics showed women were marrying later and having fewer children, said Dr Abdul Razaq Al Faris, head of labour market studies at Tanmia, the National Human Resource Development and Employment Authority, at a meeting recently.

UAE women are having fewer children from 7.2 children on average in 1985 to 4.6 now. "We'll become like Europe demographically and implode only a generation after we established the UAE," the managing director of Tanmia, Dr Abdul Rahman Al Awar, said.

A Tanmia report said fertility rates were "closely linked" to education and participation in the national economy. Al Faris said even though Tanmia was producing the figures, they could not solve the problem. "I think this is a matter for the marriage fund, for women's groups to discuss. Low fertility is a phenomenon in the UAE and it needs debate."

While fertility rates were still much higher than non-national women, according to the Tanmia report, the numbers were cause for concern.

Tanmia estimated there were 906,000 UAE nationals as compared to 3,414,0000 expatriates in the country in 2004. That does not include the estimated 400,000 illegal residents in the UAE.

The report's authors warned policies were needed to address the "problem" of low fertility rates.

"While the growth rate of the national population is expected to remain high within international standards in the near future, it may slow down gradually in the long term, which could seriously impact the UAE national population structure, given the absence of policies to redress any imbalance. There may be a need for government intervention to address the problem of fertility decline," the report said.

the figures

Average has come down from 7.2 to 4.6

According to Tanmia's estimates, there were 906,000 UAE nationals as compared to 3,414,0000 expatriates in the country in 2004.

The authors of a Tanmia report warned that policies were needed to address declining fertility rates. Statistics reveal that UAE women are having less children from 7.2 children on average in 1985 to 4.6 now.