The population in Qatar has grown to 1.84 million, up 143,000 since the end of last September, new Qatar Statistics Authority data shows.

That’s about 100,000 more men and 43,000 more women, for a total of 1.36 million men and 480,588 women.

The Peninsula credits much of the growth to the steady influx of single workers, which comes as no big surprise – Qatar is importing a massive labor force to help construct the many mega projects that it must complete by the 2022 World Cup.

But whether the country, dubbed the world’s fastest growing by the BBC, is equipped to handle more residents is another question.

An ever-increasing population continues to put a strain on the water supply, contributes to the rising cost of living and further taxes the healthcare and public transportation systems. 

Traffic on the roads also seems to be approaching a fever pitch, though construction delays to ultimately improve the infrastructure certainly play a role.

Meanwhile, a plan to move laborers out of Doha and into accommodations in the Industrial Area continues to meet delays because housing for the men is not being constructed fast enough.

Despite the problems caused by the population growth, the flip side is there is definitely a lot more to do in Qatar these days than in 2008, when the population was just over 1.5 million.

Have you noticed how the growing population is changing Qatar?

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by cerwin_me