52% of population is youth

The Sultanate of Oman on Monday celebrates the 'Omani Youth Day', observed annually on October 26. The occasion reflects the Sultanate of Oman’s commitment to the welfare and empowerment of its youth. It also highlights efforts being made to enhance the contribution of youth across various sectors, in line with the goals of Oman Vision 2040, which lays emphasis on the role of young people in the nation-building process.
On this occasion, HH Sayyid Bilarab bin Haitham al Said, Minister of State and Governor of Muscat, will preside over a celebration ceremony that will take place on Monday at the Youth Centre.
The event will include a tour of the Youth Centre, a Youth Message, a visual presentation and the signing of an agreement to fund the main branch of the Youth Centre in Muscat Governorate. It will also see the signing of other agreements and the holding of a ceremony of awards.
Data issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information showed that the total number of young people in Oman, within the age group of 18 to 29 years, stood at 1,038,715 in 2025, of whom Omani youth constituted about 52 per cent, with males making up 51 per cent of the Omani youth population, and more than a third of them were concentrated in the governorates of Muscat and Al Batinah North.
The Youth Centre signed contracts with 1,525 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and implemented 457 training programmes from 2022 until the end of the third quarter of 2026.
A total of 554,394 young people have benefited from the spaces provided by the Youth Centre, while 73,028 people benefited from its programmes, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 627,422.
Alya bint Said al Shanfari, Executive Director of the Youth Centre, said that Omani Youth Day this year comes at an important stage for the youth after the issuance of Royal Decree No 38/2026 establishing the Youth Centre and issuing its system, a milestone that reflects the important role the centre plays in supporting young people and providing an incubator for their ideas, initiatives and aspirations.
She said that the centre continues with its strategies to expand its role in the governorates of the Sultanate of Oman by opening branches in the governorates of Al Dakhiliyah, Al Buraimi, Al Batinah North and Al Sharqiyah South. Soft opening of the centre’s two branches in the governorates of Dhofar and Musandam will also be announced, which will enhance outreach of the centre’s programmes and initiatives to young people in various governorates and provide them with more opportunities to develop their skills, hone their talents and transform their ideas into successful initiatives and projects.
The Youth Centre is also developing investment projects that contribute to enhancing its financial sustainability, including a conference and an exhibition centre and an artificial intelligence academy at the Youth Centre’s branch in Al Sharqiyah South Governorate. The aim is to support building a sustainable model that combines youth empowerment and resource development, and enhances the centre’s ability to develop its programmes and initiatives in the long term, Al Shanfari said, expressing her appreciation for the centre’s partners from the public and private sectors and stressing that effective partnerships represent a basic foundation for expanding opportunities available to youth and enhancing the impact of the programmes and initiatives as well as building an integrated system that responds to their aspirations and needs. — ONA