3.3% fall in expatriate population

SAMUEL KUTTY -

MUSCAT, Nov 26 -

The number of expatriate workers arriving in the Sultanate has continued to show a trend of decline in the last several months.

In the 10-month period from January to October this year, the number of expatriate workers fell by 3.3 per cent, with the Muscat Governorate witnessing the highest fall of 4.7 per cent. According to data from the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the decrease is from 1,854,880 at the end of December 2017 to 1,797,613 in October this year.

The number of Indians, who constitute the largest number, fell 3.8 per cent, with 664,227 expatriate workers, while Bangladeshis are in the second spot, with a fall of 4.4 per cent to 663,618 during the period.

The number of Pakistanis at the end of October stood at 219,901 with drop of 6.9 per cent. The lowest fall was registered by Sri Lankans with 0.3 per cent to reach 20,553, while workers from Nepal increased by 1 per cent at 17,236.

While people from Uganda witnessed the highest growth of 38.7 per cent to reach 32,792 workers, Filipinos and Egyptians registered an increase of 6 per cent at 47,296 and 11.1 per cent at 31,143, respectively.

At the same time, the total number of expatriates, including dependents, stood at 2,046,488, constituting 44 per cent of the total population, which reached 4,654,881 on November 24.

According to experts, the strict Omanisation policy coupled with many other regulations, including visas for expatriates, have resulted in the drop. “Oman’s push for jobs for nationals and a ban on recruitment of expatriates for several professions had a major effect on the expat arrivals to the country,” said Hassan bin Ahmed al Jabri, a human resource expert.

The expatriate population in Oman was on a surge thanks to the construction activities. “The slowdown in the construction sector due to lack of major projects and a cut in government spending have led to a slash in the number of blue-collar workers,” said Nizam Ahmed, manager with a manpower supply company.

The expat numbers in the Muscat Governorate fell to 926,312 from 927,699, while the drop in Dhofar was above 1.5 per cent to reach 234,683 from 236,087. Musandam has the lowest number of foreign workers — 57,549 — as against 57,692 in September, while Al Batinah North had the second largest number of 271,890 expats.

Al Dakhiliyah and Al Batinah South clocked 122,398 and 121,131 expats in October as against 121,927 and 120,963 in September. The number in Al Sharqiyah South and North stand at 110,390 and 110,301 as against 103,364 and 103,709.