Demographics of Oman

The demographics of Oman include many important facts about its people, such as where they live, their backgrounds, their education, health, and more. Understanding these details helps us learn how the country grows and changes.

About half of Oman’s people live in Muscat and the Batinah area nearby. Some also live in the Dhofar Governorate and the faraway Musandam Peninsula near the Strait of Hormuz.

Since 1970, the government has focused on education to build a strong workforce. In 1986, Sultan Qaboos University opened as the first university in Oman. Today, there are also private colleges and new public universities to help more people get higher education.

Population

Demographics of Oman, Data of FAO, year 2005; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

Oman has many people living in different areas. About half live in Muscat and along the coast to the northwest. Some live farther south, and a few live on a faraway peninsula.

The government has worked hard to help children and adults learn more, believing it is important for the country's future.

	Total population	Omani population		Expatriate population
1993	2,000,000	1,465,000	73.3%	535,000	26.7%
2003	2,340,815	1,781,558	76.1%	559,257	23.9%
2010	2,773,479	1,957,336	70.6%	816,143	29.4%
2014	4,092,000	2,303,000	56.3%	1,789,000	43.7%
2016	4,550,538	2,462,768	54.1%	2,082,478	46.1%
2020	5,106,458	2,994,601	59.98%	1,997,763	40.02%

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1950	456,000	—
1960	557,000	+2.02%
1970	732,000	+2.77%
1980	1,181,000	+4.90%
1990	1,868,000	+4.69%
2000	2,264,000	+1.94%
2010	2,782,000	+2.08%
2020	5,106,458	+6.26%
Source:

	Total population (thousands)	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	456	42.3	54.6	3.0
1955	501	43.6	53.2	3.2
1960	557	44.6	52.1	3.2
1965	631	45.6	51.2	3.3
1970	732	46.4	50.4	3.2
1975	898	46.1	50.9	3.0
1980	1 181	45.6	51.8	2.6
1985	1 539	46.0	51.6	2.4
1990	1 868	45.6	52.1	2.3
1995	2 232	40.3	57.5	2.2
2000	2 264	36.7	60.8	2.5
2005	2 430	32.1	65.1	2.8
2010	2 782	27.2	70.3	2.5
2015	4 321	32.1	65.1	2.8
2020	5 106	27.2	70.3	2.5

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	1 971 115	1 202 802	3 173 917	100
0-4	139 614	132 530	272 144	8.57
5-9	124 776	120 250	245 026	7.72
10-14	129 964	124 646	254 610	8.02
15-19	145 215	139 611	284 826	8.97
20-24	238 483	148 965	387 448	12.21
25-29	327 686	147 717	475 403	14.98
30-34	247 107	120 429	367 536	11.58
35-39	192 483	79 617	272 100	8.57
40-44	149 090	58 112	207 202	6.53
45-49	103 908	41 522	145 430	4.58
50-54	83 057	30 530	113 587	3.58
55-59	40 488	19 402	59 890	1.89
60-64	23 538	16 192	39 730	1.25
65-69	11 811	9 000	20 811	0.66
70-74	7 721	7 212	14 933	0.47
75-79	3 303	3 514	6 817	0.21
80+	2 871	3 553	6 424	0.20
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	394 354	377 426	771 780	24.32
15-64	1 551 055	802 097	2 353 152	74.14
65+	25 706	23 279	48 985	1.54

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	2 332 687	1 290 314	3 623 001	100
0-4	164 406	158 435	322 841	8.91
5-9	132 469	127 235	259 704	7.17
10-14	111 287	105 301	216 588	5.98
15-19	128 311	119 875	248 186	6.85
20-24	262 201	147 485	409 686	11.31
25-29	438 633	160 772	599 405	16.54
30-34	335 104	131 241	466 345	12.87
35-39	234 343	96 312	330 655	9.13
40-44	177 171	63 301	240 472	6.64
45-49	122 574	47 241	169 815	4.69
50-54	89 917	39 602	129 519	3.57
55-59	56 448	28 380	84 828	2.34
60-64	28 338	20 629	48 967	1.35
65-69	17 199	15 561	32 760	0.90
70-74	13 925	12 439	26 364	0.73
75-79	9 475	7 373	16 848	0,47
80+	10 882	9 113	19 995	0.55
unknown	4	19	23
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	408 162	390 971	799 133	22.06
15-64	1 873 040	854 838	2 727 878	75.29
65+	51 481	44 486	95 967	2.65

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	2 739 954	1 731 194	4 471 148	100
0–4	225 585	217 574	443 159	9.91
5–9	214 408	205 923	420 331	9.40
10–14	164 249	158 269	322 518	7.21
15–19	128 650	123 805	252 455	5.65
20–24	178 099	126 838	304 937	6.82
25–29	364 479	167 905	532 384	11.91
30–34	426 671	185 002	611 673	13.68
35–39	355 022	159 996	515 018	11.52
40–44	245 069	122 600	367 669	8.22
45–49	162 792	78 866	241 658	5.40
50–54	107 609	52 247	159 856	3.58
55–59	67 579	39 990	107 569	2.41
60–64	43 899	32 405	76 304	1.71
65-69	21 548	21 790	43 338	0.97
70-74	14 117	15 524	29 641	0.66
75-79	9 414	10 427	19 841	0.44
80-84	6 369	6 459	12 828	0.29
85-89	2 813	3 176	5 989	0.13
90-94	1 066	1 462	2 528	0.06
95-99	319	597	916	0.02
100+	197	339	536	0.01
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	604 242	581 766	1 186 008	26.53
15–64	2 079 869	1 089 654	3 169 523	70.89
65+	55 843	59 774	115 617	2.59

Vital statistics

Registered births and deaths

UN estimates

Life expectancy in Oman since 1960 by gender

Life expectancy at birth

The average person in Oman can expect to live about 75 years. Men live around 74 years, while women live about 78 years, based on estimates from 2017.

Year	Population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Crude migration change (per 1000)	Total Fertility Rate
2006	2,577,062	49,494	5,484	44,010	19.2	2.1	17.1		2.660
2007	2,743,499	52,500	6,810	45,690	19.1	2.5	16.6	45.39	2.589
2008	2,867,428	58,250	7,415	50,835	20.3	2.6	17.7	26.05	2.607
2009	3,173,917	64,735	7,098	57,637	20.4	2.2	18.2	82.38	2.669
2010	2,773,479	65,528	6,974	58,554	23.3	2.7	20.6	-154.35	2.974
2011	3,295,298	67,922	7,667	60,255	20.6	2.3	18.3	152.11	2.853
2012	3,623,001	72,867	7,884	64,983	20.1	2.2	17.9	75.95	2.818
2013	3,855,206	79,417	7,669	71,748	20.6	2.0	18.6	42.91	2.882
2014	3,992,893	82,981	7,819	75,162	21.9	2.0	19.9	15.93	2.900
2015	4,159,102	86,286	8,167	78,119	19.3	2.0	17.3	21.61	2.903
2016	4,414,051	88,346	8,828	79,518	20.0	2.0	18.0	40.93	2.888
2017	4,559,963	90,371	8,861	81,510	20.5	1.9	18.6	14.35	2.895
2018	4,601,706	89,071	8,979	80,092	19.4	1.9	17.5	-8.37	2.858
2019	4,617,927	86,819	8,581	78,238	18.8	1.9	16.9	-13.45	2.689
2020	4,481,042	84,405	10,589	73,816	18.8	2.4	16.4	-46.31	2.664
2021	4,527,446	82,224	12,649	69,575	18.2	2.8	15.4	-5.14	2.604
2022	4,933,850	77,628	10,035	67,593	15.7	2.0	13.7	71.62	2.305
2023	5,165,602	71,107	8,982	62,125	13.8	1.7	12.0	33.59	2.010
2024	5,268,072	70,209	9,264	60,945	13.3	1.8	11.5	7.96	1.913
2025	5,359,557	69,445	9,388	60,057	13.0	1.8	11.2	5.91

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR¹	CDR¹	NC¹	TFR¹	IMR¹	Life expectancy (years)
1950	25 000	16 000	8 000	53.7	35.7	18.1	7.25	277.0	29.7
1951	25 000	16 000	9 000	53.8	35.4	18.4	7.25	274.3	30.0
1952	25 000	17 000	9 000	53.8	35.0	18.7	7.25	270.4	30.5
1953	26 000	17 000	9 000	53.8	34.6	19.2	7.25	266.4	31.0
1954	26 000	17 000	10 000	53.8	34.2	19.6	7.25	263.2	31.44
1955	27 000	17 000	10 000	53.8	33.8	20.0	7.25	259.6	31.92
1956	27 000	17 000	10 000	53.7	33.4	20.4	7.25	256.2	32.37
1957	27 000	17 000	11 000	53.8	33.0	20.8	7.25	252.1	32.86
1958	28 000	17 000	11 000	53.8	32.4	21.4	7.25	248.0	33.48
1959	28 000	17 000	12 000	53.8	31.9	21.9	7.25	243.9	34.07
1960	29 000	16 000	12 000	53.7	30.5	23.2	7.25	234.0	35.45
1961	29 000	16 000	13 000	53.5	29.2	24.3	7.25	225.0	36.82
1962	30 000	16 000	14 000	53.1	27.9	25.2	7.25	216.1	38.19
1963	30 000	15 000	15 000	52.8	26.8	26.0	7.26	207.9	39.42
1964	31 000	15 000	16 000	52.4	25.6	26.8	7.26	199.8	40.68
1965	31 000	15 000	16 000	52.0	24.5	27.5	7.27	191.9	41.89
1966	31 000	14 000	17 000	51.5	23.4	28.1	7.28	184.1	43.07
1967	32 000	14 000	18 000	51.0	22.3	28.7	7.28	176.5	44.29
1968	32 000	14 000	19 000	50.6	21.2	29.4	7.29	168.9	45.53
1969	33 000	13 000	20 000	50.2	20.2	30.0	7.29	161.3	46.68
1970	34 000	13 000	21 000	49.9	19.4	30.6	7.31	154.1	47.68
1971	34 000	13 000	22 000	49.8	18.4	31.4	7.35	146.8	48.93
1972	35 000	13 000	23 000	49.9	17.8	32.1	7.41	139.2	49.57
1973	37 000	12 000	24 000	50.1	16.9	33.3	7.50	132.0	50.86
1974	38 000	12 000	26 000	50.5	16.0	34.5	7.62	124.8	52.10
1975	40 000	12 000	29 000	51.6	15.2	36.4	7.75	117.5	53.30
1976	43 000	12 000	31 000	52.2	14.1	38.2	7.86	110.3	55.22
1977	45 000	12 000	34 000	52.8	13.4	39.4	7.94	103.4	56.26
1978	48 000	11 000	37 000	53.0	12.4	40.6	7.99	95.8	57.71
1979	51 000	11 000	40 000	53.2	11.5	41.7	8.04	88.6	59.15
1980	54 000	11 000	43 000	53.4	10.7	42.7	8.10	81.6	60.45
1981	57 000	11 000	46 000	53.2	9.9	43.3	8.13	74.9	61.65
1982	60 000	10 000	49 000	52.8	9.1	43.7	8.10	68.2	62.96
1983	62 000	10 000	52 000	51.9	8.3	43.6	8.02	62.1	64.22
1984	64 000	10 000	55 000	50.7	7.6	43.1	7.90	56.3	65.25
1985	66 000	9 000	57 000	49.3	7.0	42.4	7.76	51.1	66.27
1986	66 000	9 000	57 000	46.5	6.4	40.1	7.58	46.4	67.01
1987	66 000	9 000	58 000	43.8	5.8	38.0	7.37	42.1	67.89
1988	66 000	8 000	58 000	41.3	5.3	36.0	7.14	38.4	68.58
1989	66 000	8 000	58 000	38.8	4.9	33.9	6.87	35.0	69.16
1990	65 000	8 000	57 000	36.6	4.5	32.0	6.61	31.9	69.78
1991	65 000	8 000	57 000	34.6	4.3	30.3	6.34	29.1	70.19
1992	64 000	8 000	56 000	32.6	4.1	28.6	6.05	26.5	70.66
1993	64 000	8 000	56 000	30.9	3.8	27.0	5.76	24.2	71.17
1994	63 000	8 000	55 000	29.3	3.7	25.5	5.47	22.1	71.39
1995	61 000	8 000	54 000	28.2	3.5	24.6	5.19	20.3	71.99
1996	61 000	8 000	53 000	27.5	3.5	24.0	4.90	18.7	72.19
1997	60 000	8 000	53 000	26.8	3.4	23.4	4.62	17.3	72.42
1998	60 000	8 000	53 000	26.3	3.3	23.0	4.34	16.1	72.97
1999	60 000	8 000	52 000	25.8	3.2	22.5	4.13	15.0	73.18
2000	58 000	7 000	51 000	24.8	3.2	21.6	3.89	14.0	73.47
2001	57 000	7 000	50 000	24.0	3.1	21.0	3.69	13.1	73.81
2002	56 000	7 000	49 000	23.3	3.0	20.2	3.50	12.4	73.87
2003	55 000	7 000	48 000	22.7	3.0	19.8	3.35	11.8	74.14
2004	55 000	7 000	48 000	22.2	2.9	19.3	3.20	11.3	74.33
2005	54 000	7 000	46 000	21.4	2.9	18.5	3.05	10.9	74.40
2006	53 000	7 000	46 000	20.7	2.9	17.8	2.92	10.6	74.48
2007	53 000	8 000	46 000	20.5	3.0	17.6	2.81	10.6	74.46
2008	56 000	8 000	48 000	21.1	3.0	18.2	2.81	10.3	74.61
2009	60 000	8 000	52 000	22.3	3.0	19.3	2.84	10.1	74.68
2010	64 000	7 000	57 000	23.4	2.6	20.8	2.94	10.0	76.27
2011	70 000	8 000	62 000	22.6	2.5	20.2	2.94	9.9	76.61
2012	75 000	8 000	67 000	21.9	2.3	19.6	2.93	9.8	77.06
2013	81 000	9 000	72 000	21.6	2.3	19.3	2.95	9.7	77.25
2014	85 000	9 000	76 000	21.3	2.2	19.1	2.96	9.6	77.45
2015	88 000	9 000	79 000	21.3	2.2	19.1	2.96	9.6	77.69
2016	90 000	9 000	81 000	20.8	2.2	18.6	2.95	9.6	77.92
2017	92 000	10 000	82 000	20.3	2.2	18.1	2.94	9.5	77.92
2018	92 000	10 000	82 000	19.8	2.2	17.6	2.88	9.5	77.97
2019	90 000	10 000	80 000	19.3	2.2	17.1	2.78	9.5	78.00
2020	87 000	14 000	73 000	18.8	3.0	15.8	2.69	9.4	74.76
2021	83 000	17 000	66 000	18.4	3.8	14.6	2.62	9.3	72.54
¹ CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births

Ethnic groups

Oman's population is mostly made up of Omani Arabs, with some people having Balochi (Al-Balushi) background. There are also many South Asians such as Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshi people who live there, along with smaller groups of African and Afro-Arab people.

Omani society is largely tribal. There are three main types of identities in Oman. Two of these are tied to 'tribalism' and 'Ibadism', mainly found in the interior, and linked to long-standing traditions. The third identity is connected to 'maritime trade' and is common in Muscat and along the coast. This coastal identity is more open and involved in business and trade. There is some social inequality between these groups.

Languages

People in Oman speak many different languages. The main language is Arabic, which is the official language. Other languages spoken there include Bangla, English, Hindi, Malayalam, Balochi, Swahili, Urdu, Sindhi, Gujarati, Jadgali, Achomi, Shehri, Tamil, and other Indian languages.

Religion

Main article: Religion in Oman

In 2021, most people in Oman followed Islam, making up about 86% of the population. Among these, nearly half were Sunni Muslims, around a third were Ibadi Muslims, and a small group were Shia Muslims. Other religions included Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism, with a very small number of people not following any religion.

Migration

Oman has many people from other countries because its economy is growing quickly, especially due to oil. In 2014, about 44% of the people living in Oman were from other places. Most of these people are men from India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Women who move to Oman for work are often from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. There are also people from Arab countries like Egypt and Jordan, as well as from Europe and the United States.

Many people born in Oman have moved to live in other countries, though the exact numbers vary.

In 2017, about 45% of the people in Oman were from other countries.

Country	Omani population
United Kingdom	2,024
United States	390
Canada	260
Australia	148
Japan	24

Foreign population in Oman (2017)
Rank	Country	Population
1	India	1,375,667
2	Bangladesh	718,856
3	Pakistan	268,868
4	Egypt	46,970
5	Philippines	45,213
6	Uganda	20,886
7	Sri Lanka	20,003
8	Tanzania	17,077
9	Nepal	16,580
10	Indonesia	14,155
11	Ethiopia	13,572
Total non-Omanis		2,054,594

Population

Vital statistics

Registered births and deaths

UN estimates

Life expectancy at birth

Ethnic groups

Languages

Religion

Migration

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