56,002
Registered population
That puts Khasab at 11 of 11 on the official table.
Back to Musandam
Khasab · Topic file
Is Khasab 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 Khasab, the honest read comes down to registered population and building permits.
610
Building permits
That puts Khasab at 10 of 11 on the official table.
The numbers
Where Khasab 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 Khasab 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
- Khasab is showing 56,002 on registered population. That puts Khasab at 11 of 11 on the official table.
- Khasab is showing 610 on building permits. That puts Khasab at 10 of 11 on the official table.
- MOHUP positions Musandam around eco-tourism, fisheries, agriculture, quarrying and its unique geographic position. 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 Khasab is being measured against
Population, permits and whether the place is actually being built fast enough for the role it has been handed.
MOHUP positions Musandam around eco-tourism, fisheries, agriculture, quarrying and its unique geographic position. The spatial strategy emphasises controlled development, functional zoning and the protection of natural beauty as the basis of future growth.
- Tourism is explicitly framed as the main driver of Musandam's future economy.
- The strategy still expects supporting roles from fisheries, agriculture, trade and quarrying rather than a one-sector story.
- The official planning approach is unusually spatially strict because land claiming, ecological protection and phased master plans all matter here.
Related topic files
Five more ways into the Musandam 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.
Musandam topic file
Capital deployment
How much money is actually being committed, and whether the property market is picking up the signal.
Musandam topic file
Jobs and enterprise
The jobs and businesses that show whether the governorate has a working economy, or just a project list.
Musandam topic file
Tourism and place economy
Hotels, occupancy, and whether the place is becoming a real destination or just adding rooms.
Musandam 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.
Musandam topic file
Infrastructure and utilities
Roads, water and the quiet base layer that usually decides whether any of the rest of it actually works.