Expat population registers decline

After the decline, expatriates comprise a little over 44% of the total population of the Sultanate

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Oman’s expatriate population in June fell by over 43,000 people to 2,035,952, when compared to the same period last year, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI)’s population clock.

As of June 16, 2018, Oman’s total population numbered 4,612,824, an increase of 30,742 during the same period last year when 4,582,082 people were recorded in the Sultanate.

The biggest

demographic change was seen in the number of expatriates living in Oman, which fell by over 43,000 to 2,035,952 or 44.1 per cent of the total population in the Sultanate from the 2,079,338 recorded on June 16, 2017.

The figures follow a trend first seen at the beginning of the year, when stricter Omanisation policy and a six-month employment visa ban on expatriates in multiple sectors were implemented.

The ban extended to 87 professions across 10 different sectors including IT, media, air traffic, engineering, accounting and finance, technicians, insurance, marketing and sales, administration, and HR. Originally enforced in January, the visa ban was extended for another six months in late May.

Fall comes after growth

The drop in the expat population year-on-year comes after the expatriate workforce tripled over a 10-year period, between 2007 and 2017.

During the Sultanate’s census in 2010, expats were only 29 per cent of the population, a figure that quickly grew with time before its recent decline.