(immigration foreign labor to the Persian Gulf countries - Economic Dimensions, Threats)

Abstract

The population issues have been one of the major concerns of researchers and policy makers in the GCC countries, due to the strong interrelationship between demographic change and socioeconomic development in general, and urban, social, economic, and security related problems in particular. In this regards, the study explores the population situation and demographic change and their consequences in the GCC countries. Utilizing various data sources, important issues related to population and demographic changes are explored. For instance, it is found that the expatriates have outnumbered the nationals in some GCC countries. This has important economic and social implications that should be dealt with as soon as possible. In addition, unemployment among the youth and females is becoming a serious problem in some countries. Demographically study demonstrates a significant improvement witnessed in the region in population growth rates, and finally the study resulted in several recommendations that address the imbalance in the population structure ,