Qatar: Economically active population (aged 15 years and above) by nationality (Qatari/non-Qatari) and activity sector (2024)

Source: Annual Bulletin of Labour Force Sample Survey 2024

ANNEXED NOTE

1. Technical Notes and Definitions

The data is taken from Labour Force Survey 2024 (yearly synthesis)
Sampling frame : Population Census 2020.
Sample size: 65,253 persons, in 10,560 households: 1- Qatari households; 2- Non-Qatari regular (non-collective) households;
3- Non-Qatari small collective households or labour gatherings (2 – 6 persons); 4- Non-Qatari large collective households or large labour gatherings (7 persons or more).
The collective households are a group of persons not related to each other and sharing living conditions in a residential unit, I.e. labour camps, students living boarding
schools, nurses in hospitals… etc. The survey covered the small collective households (includes less than 7 persons) and large collective households (includes 7 persons or more).
Data Collection: The sample was divided into equal parts to collect data monthly. Each month 1/3 of the quarterly data were collected during the first two weeks of the month.
Reference period for the labour force data: the week prior to data collection day.
The survey does not cover short periods accommodation, i.e. hotels.

The present data includes the active population, i.e. employed and unemployed. 

Labour force: People in working age including employed and unemployed.
Employed population:
Persons aged 15 years an above, who during the week preceding the survey:
a) Perform a work for a wage, salary, profits or household gains, whether it was in cash or in kind.
b) Are temporarily not employed, however, they still have an official relation with their work
Unemployed population:
All persons aged 15 years and over who were, during the week preceding the survey, without work and were willing to work and looking seriously for work.
These are:
First time unemployed: They are the persons who never worked previously, and were during the week preceding the survey looking actively for work.
Unemployed who previously worked: They are the persons with previous experience work and during the week preceding the survey were actively looking for work.

The present data does not include persons seeking work for the first time

Definition of sectors of activity:
a)    Governmental department:
Government bodies engaged in administrative or service activities, such as ministries, public schools, public health centers, and hospitals.
b)   Government corporation/company:
Companies engaged in productive activities whose capital is entirely owned by government, such as Central Bank of Qatar, Qatar Petroleum.
c)    Private:
Establishments owned by individuals or a group of individuals either Qatari nationals or non-Qataris, whether natural or legal personalities.
d)    Mixed: 
Establishments in which the government shares capital with another party, whether national (such as Qatar National Bank) or foreign (such as Gulf Air Corporation).
e)    Diplomatic/International/Regional: 
Establishments engaged in diplomatic or consulate activities on behalf of other countries or those belonging to regional or international organizations.
f)     Domestic sector: 
Includes all those working in a household for a salary, either males or females, such as housemaids, cooks, drivers, and gardeners.

2. Institution which provides data

National Planning Council (NPC), formerly the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA)
https://www.npc.qa/en/pages/default.aspx
https://www.npc.qa/ar/pages/default.aspx

3. Data availability

Annual and quarterly bulletins of Labour Force Surveys reports can be downloaded from NPC’s website, in PDF and/or Excel formats:
https://www.npc.qa/en/statistics/pages/subjectdetails.aspx

Last date of access: 21 May 2026.

GLMM and GRC cannot guarantee that the link to access the source will not change;
that the information will not be removed from the website it was obtained from;
that no geo-blockages will be imposed; or that the information will not be available for any another reason.

Keywords: Qatar, Employment, National Labour, Foreign Labour