Doha - Experts expressed their concern Thursday in Qatar over the increasing percentage of unemployed in the Gulf states.

Experts, who attended a meeting in Doha entitled Unemployment in the GCC Countries: Towards a Strategy to Reduce the Effects said that unemployment had reached 15 per cent in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

They expected the number to rise in the coming years, despite the fact that studies say the unemployment rate is still small compared to other countries.

However, official estimates after the two-day meeting, which wrapped up on Thursday, said that the rate of unemployed youth aged between 16 and 24 had reached 35 per cent, which is one of the highest worldwide.

A study released after the meeting said that the GCC countries needed to provide 300,000 job opportunities every year to address this problem.

Foreign labour is estimated at more than 10 million people out of the 15 million people working in the Gulf.

The rate of foreign workers is highest in both the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, where it accounts for more than 82 per cent of total employment. (dpa)