374,962
Registered population
That puts Sur at 6 of 11 on the official table.
Back to Ash Sharqiyah South
Sur · Topic file
Is Sur building fast enough for the role it has been handed?
A spatial plan only becomes real when permits and settlements start lining up with the role the governorate has been given. Until then, it is still just a map. For Sur, the honest read comes down to registered population and building permits.
3,201
Building permits
That puts Sur at 5 of 11 on the official table.
The numbers
Where Sur stands today, chart by chart
Registered population
Registered population by governorate in 2025.
NCSI Statistical Year Book 2026, Population, Area and Population Density by Governorates.
Building permits
New and renewed building permits by governorate in 2025.
NCSI Statistical Year Book 2026, Table 7-3.
The trend over time
How Sur got here
Building permits
Building permits issued since 2020. One of the clearest signals of how busy — or how quiet — local construction actually is.
2020–2024: Table 7-3, Statistical Year Book 2025 (Issue 53). 2025: Table 7-3, Statistical Year Book 2026 (Issue 54).
Population projection
NCSI's official population projection by governorate, year by year from 2020 to 2040 — the clearest long-range planning curve currently in the public record.
Annual 2020–2040 line: NCSI population projection dataset. MOHUP's Urban Strategy 2040 sets out each governorate's intended growth path alongside it.
These are projections, not targets. Treat them as a pressure test for housing, services, land and infrastructure needs over the next 15 years — not as commitments.
Reading the charts
What the latest tables are really saying
- Sur is showing 374,962 on registered population. That puts Sur at 6 of 11 on the official table.
- Sur is showing 3,201 on building permits. That puts Sur at 5 of 11 on the official table.
- The official MOHUP role is unambiguous: Ash Sharqiyah South should become a leading centre for marine activity, balancing industry, fisheries, marine research, tourism, agriculture and the environmental constraints of the coast. For that to actually work, building has to concentrate in the right places — not just spread across more empty plots.
Why this file matters
The strategy Sur is being measured against
Population, permits and whether the place is actually being built fast enough for the role it has been handed.
The official MOHUP role is unambiguous: Ash Sharqiyah South should become a leading centre for marine activity, balancing industry, fisheries, marine research, tourism, agriculture and the environmental constraints of the coast.
- Sur is meant to operate as a stronger urban, commercial and tourism centre.
- Marine-linked sectors are supposed to range from fisheries and research to administration and tourism rather than sitting in a narrow niche.
- The strategy repeatedly stresses the need to keep marine and coastal growth in balance with fragile environmental conditions.
Related topic files
Five more ways into the Ash Sharqiyah South execution map
These linked files cover the other live tests in the same governorate, so the numbers on capital, jobs, services, tourism, utilities, and urban buildout can be read together instead of in isolation.
Ash Sharqiyah South topic file
Capital deployment
How much money is actually being committed, and whether the property market is picking up the signal.
Ash Sharqiyah South topic file
Jobs and enterprise
The jobs and businesses that show whether the governorate has a working economy, or just a project list.
Ash Sharqiyah South topic file
Tourism and place economy
Hotels, occupancy, and whether the place is becoming a real destination or just adding rooms.
Ash Sharqiyah South topic file
Human capability and essential services
Whether schools and hospitals are keeping up — the simplest read on whether people can build a life here.
Ash Sharqiyah South topic file
Infrastructure and utilities
Roads, water and the quiet base layer that usually decides whether any of the rest of it actually works.