And even if they were only counting successful connections, connections != users.

In the land of Tor can you distinguish the difference in any meaningful way? I agree generally but I don't see how Tor could differentiate.

You'd have to do an anonymous survey of 'do you use Tor?' & project from there

The title isn't misleading, "the estimated number of directly-connecting clients" is what is meant by "users".

I'm not very familiar with TOR, but does this reaffirm what OP is asking, that this might be DPI causing re-connections for TOR in UAE? If so is this a new policy of banning TOR, or is this just a recent ramp up in existing policy?

It is a little misleading. Misleading I think should be the correct word choice. It might not be incorrect, but it is misleading.

Another example that comes to mind is the Colorado newspaper headline that crime has "doubled" in the last decade. That leads a person down the train of thought that crime is out of control. In reality, it grew in proportion to the population. The headline, "Crime grows in proportion with population" doesn't evoke gasps and sales of your paper.

Fair point, my misinterpretation.