After reaching an all-time high in November, Qatar’s population fell marginally at the end of last month, according to new government figures.

There were 2,597,453 people inside the country at the end of December, the Ministry of Development, Planning and Statistics (MDPS) said.

That’s only a 1.5 percent drop from November’s population of 2,637,302, or almost 40,000 people.

But overall, Qatar’s population has grown some 7 percent in the past 12 months, to the tune of 174,278 people.

This is despite layoffs in many sectors, including health, energy and transportation, and likely due to an influx of blue-collar workers hired to complete infrastructure projects ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

What’s ahead

Though oil prices are now on the rebound, cost-cutting plans will likely affect more Qatar jobs in the coming months.

For example, Qatar Petroleum (QP’s) RasGas and Qatargas will soon be joined into a single entity called Qatargas.

No immediate job cuts are expected, but may occur once the new structure is in place, QP CEO Saad Al Kaabi said last month.

The exit of professional expats in 2016 left many businesses in Qatar struggling.

That said, both Hamad Medical Corp. and Sidra Medical and Research Center have signaled intentions to hire thousands of staff in the coming months.

More expats are also expected to be brought aboard to work on the World Cup stadiums, and to support other projects.

Thoughts?