Government workers get their dues

Thousands of state employees inside rebel-controlled Sana’a receive their wages |

Bangladeshis constitute the largest expatriate worker contingent in Oman, according to the latest statistics by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). According to the NCSI, as of the end of December, 2016, the number of Bangladeshis was 698,881, with Indians second highest at 689,600 and Pakistanis standing at 232,426.

The number of Bangladeshi males stood at 666,071, while the number of females was 32,810.

Naser Al Beloushi, an expert on the labour market, attributes the increase in the number of Bangladeshis to their willingness to work for less compared to other migrant workers. “They earn between 60 to 100 riyals a month, which is cheaper than what workers from other countries are willing to accept,” said Al Beloushi.

In total, the number of migrant workers stood at 1,848,175 by the end of December, according to the NCSI. 1,504,936 of them are working in the private sector, 60,196 in the government sector, while 283,043 are working for families, as domestic help and drivers.

Meanwhile, Oman’s population reached 4,568,003 on January 22, according to the NCSI.

The number of Omanis stood at 2,473,387 who constitute 54.1 per cent of the population, while the number of expatriates stood at 2,094,616.

The number of expatriates has significantly increased in the past five years, reaching 43 per cent in the middle of 2015, compared to 29 per cent in 2010 and 38.9 per cent in 2011.

As Oman continues to build mega infrastructure projects, it often requires hiring expatriate manpower.