190,000 expats have left Kuwait since pandemic

Kuwaitisation policy and Covid take a toll on migrant workers

Over 56,000 expatriates left Kuwait in the first half of this year, bringing to 190,000 the total numbers of foreign workers who have left the country since the Covid-19 pandemic erupted in early 2020.

While Kuwait’s population hit an all-time low on an annual basis in 30 years in 2020, the country’s overall population dropped in the first half of the current year by 0.9 per cent to reach 4.6 million people, according to a report by the National Bank of Kuwait.

The report explained the continued Kuwaitisation of jobs and the weak economic environment due to the pandemic have led to corporate layoffs, pushing thousands of foreign families to leave.

Foreigners’ employment in Kuwait dropped by 2.2 per cent in the first half of this year. Except domestic labour, the number of migrant workers arriving in Kuwait dropped by 2.7 per cent in the first half of 2021.

Domestic worker jobs dipped by 1.1 per cent in the first half compared to a 9.8 per cent decline in the construction sector.