DOHA (Reuters) – Qatar’s population has surged by 13.2% over the last year, official data showed, as the tiny Persian Gulf Arab state recruits thousands of overseas workers ahead of hosting the soccer World Cup next month to cope with an unprecedented influx of fans.

The wealthy gas producer’s population stood at 2.94 million after some 370,000 additional people moved to Qatar over the last year, based on data collected in September and released by Qatar’s statistics authority last week. Migrant workers and other foreigners make up the majority of the country’s population while Qatari nationals number around 380,000.