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Qatar's population surges 13.2% in year leading up to World Cup

The country is preparing to receive an estimated 1.2 million visitors during football's largest event

Published: Sun 9 Oct 2022, 2:23 PM

  • By
  • Reuters

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Qatar's population has surged by 13.2 per cent over the last year, official data showed, as the country recruits thousands of overseas workers ahead of hosting the football World Cup next month to cope with an unprecedented influx of fans.

Their population stood at 2.94 million after approximately 370,000 additional people moved to Qatar over the last year, based on data collected in September and released by Qatar's statistics authority last week. The country is gearing up to receive an estimated 1.2 million visitors during football's largest event.

Hotel operator Accor is recruiting 12,000 temporary overseas employees to operate 65,000 rooms in apartments and homes serving as temporary fan housing. Qatar also has an agreement with Turkey to provide more than 3,000 riot police, and Pakistan has agreed to deploy troops to Qatar during the tournament.

Qatar has built expressways, seven football stadiums, hotels and skyscrapers, spending at least $229 billion on infrastructure, according to budget documents. Around half of Qatar's population is employed in the construction industry.

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