Abu Dhabi’s live births increased 317.2 per cent from what it was in 1977, with the total population amounting to 2.9 million by the end of 2016, a growth of 4.4 per cent as compared to 2015 official census, a report said.

Of the total population, 551,535 are Emiratis, 51 per cent of whom are males and 48 per cent females, reported Wam, the Emirates official news agency, citing newly-published figures from the Statistics Centre- Abu Dhabi.

Fertility rate is estimated at 3.7 per each local female, and 1 per non-citizen female.

In more detail, the report showed that Abu Dhabi Region's total population amounted to 1.807 million in 2016, accounting for 62.14 per cent of the emirate's total population, while Al Ain Region's population stood at 766,936, a growth of 26.4 over 2015. Al Dhafra Region's population hit 334,000, a growth of 11.9 per cent.

More than half of Emirati live births in 2016 were delivered in Abu Dhabi Region, making up 54.3 per cent of the total national births, with Al Ain Region accounting for 41.1 per cent and Al Dhafrah 3.4 per cent.