Population below five meters above sea level — all countries

Population below five meters above sea level — United Arab Emirates

Population below five meters above sea level in the United Arab Emirates in 2015 — 26.72%. Ranked 201 in the world out of 215. Since 1990, the indicator has fallen by 5.44 pp.

2015 26.72% −2.48 pp vs 2000
World rank 201of 215
Period maximum 32.16%1990
Period minimum 26.72%2015

Trend over time

1990–2015 · % of population

Population below five meters above sea level — United Arab Emirates, 1990–201526283032341990199319961999200220052008201120141990: 32.16%2000: 29.2%2015: 26.72%
Change over the period: −5.44 pp Annual average: -0.22 pp

Comparison, 2015

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates 26.72%
World 4.06%
Western Asia computed 3.49%
High-income countries computed 4.19%
Population below five meters above sea level — United Arab Emirates, by year United Arab Emirates All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2015 26.72
2000 29.2
1990 32.16

About the indicator

The share of the population living less than five meters above sea level. The threshold is not arbitrary: this is the zone already threatened by storm surges and, over the coming century, by sea level rise. In absolute numbers the densely populated deltas of Asia come first; by share, island states and the Netherlands — and the latter show that a high share does not equal high risk, since everything depends on whether coastal defenses are in place.

Important: The series is not annual: the World Bank computes it from a digital elevation model for individual benchmark years, the latest of which is 2015, and has not updated it since. No one has fresher data of this kind; the values are best read as an order-of-magnitude estimate.

Source: World Development Indicators (World Bank), license CC BY 4.0.