Qatar men outnumber women 4 to 1 - census

Women are outnumbered nearly four to one by men in Qatar where a large expatriate community lives among a total population of 1.6 million, according to new census results just published.

The number of men at the end of August stood at some 1.25 million compared with 349,908 women, the statistics department said on its website.

It gave no reason for the difference between male and female numbers but this could be attributed to the huge influx of foreigners, many of whom come alone without their families, who are employed in the Gulf state's construction industry.

The statistics did not give a breakdown of locals compared to foreigners but the former are estimated to total between 180,000 and 200,000.