Demographic shift in expat population

Bangladeshis are now the largest expat community in the Sultanate

There has been a subtle but significant demographics shift in Oman’s expatriate population in the past year. Compared with the statistics at the end of 2015, Bangladesh has pipped India to form the largest expatriate community in Oman.

The other highlight has been the increase in the number of expatriates from the Philippines, with female workers outnumbering men from that country. Their presence has been largely attributed to Oman’s flourishing tourism sector.

Bangladesh nationals top the number of expatriate workforce as of January-end this year with 701,719 (698,881 in December 2016), followed by Indians at 688,365 workers (689,600 in December).

Pakistan nationals form the third largest community with 233,627 workers (232,426 in December). The Philippine nationals form the fourth largest expatriate community with 40,758 nationals (40,976 in December).

The other nationalities include Ethiopians (16,150), Indonesians (18,030), Egyptians (26,120) and Sri Lankans (19,513).

According to statistics, there are 284,698 expatriates working in the household sector as against 60,191 in the government and 1,506,525 in the private sector. At the end of December 2015, Indian nationals topped the foreign population with 669,882 workers, followed by Bangladesh nationals (590,170) and Pakistan nationals (220,112), Philippine nationals (34,511), Indonesians (32,535), Egyptians (24,532) and Sri Lankans (15,572).

Among female expatriates, Indians dominate the chart at 41,637, followed by Bangladesh (32,816), Sri Lanka (12,474), Philippines (28,178), Indonesia (17,381) and Ethiopia (15,985).

These consistent shifts can be attributed to a number of factors such as economic conditions in the country of origin and immigration policies.

It may be noted there was a decline in the number of new projects last year due to falling oil prices.

“For the executive and middle-level job-seekers from India, there may be enough job opportunities back home, but the currency exchange rates, high inflation and taxes still make Oman an attractive destination,” said a senior executive of a manpower company.

He said the Indian government has imposed several regulations, including bank deposits, which have restricted the recruitment of Indian workers in the household sector. The curbs imposed on the recruitment of female domestic workers from Indonesia is reflected in a dip in the number of workers from 32,535 at the end of December 2015, to 18,030 as of January 2017.