Dubai’s recent surging population growth will reverse over the next two years as the troubled, but important, real estate and construction sectors cause the number of immigrants to slow and many expatriates to leave, a report said on Wednesday.

Over half of Dubai’s population is employed in the the real estate and construction industries, which are suffering from oversupply and a dearth of financing. Property prices fell 8 per cent in the fourth quarter, according to a report released on Tuesday.