Oman census shows need for more job creation

Muscat: Oman will have to brace itself to meet the rising demand for jobs among young Omanis, whose numbers, the latest census figures show, have increased significantly, according to Ahmad Bin Abdul Nabi Macki, Minister of National Economy.

Releasing the preliminary results of the country's recent census for 2010, Macki said that the proportion of the Omani population below the age of 15 had declined compared to 2003, therefore there has been an increase in numbers for those above 15.

"A segment eligible for employment has increased and we will have to work hard to create more jobs for them," said Macki in reply to a question by Gulf News yesterday at the release of preliminary results of Oman's Census 2010 at the National Economy Ministry.

Oman's total population, according to the preliminary results, is 2,694,000 compared to 2,341,000 in 2003 showing a 15 per cent increase in the total population.

The expatriates in the country increased more than Omanis in the last seven years as rapid development in the country has created more jobs.

However, a large number of expatriates, those who are holidaying outside Oman over the Christmas season and those living here without legal status are not included in this census.

"We have had difficulties in counting illegal residents as they were not forthcoming and we also missed those outside the country in this festive season," Macki noted.

Status

In reply to a question, he said that the census department didn't have statistics on expatriates with illegal status. But he added: "According to information given by the Manpower Ministry there are still 80,000 expatriates living in Oman without legal status."

In the latest count, Omanis number 1,951,000, an increase of 9.48 per cent from the 1,782,000 count in 2003 while expatriates showed an increase of 32.9 per cent at 743,000 against the total count 559,000 in 2003.

Therefore, the ratio of Omanis to the foreign work force in the country has also narrowed slightly. In 2003 it was 3:1 while now the ratio is 2.6 Omanis to one expatriate.

Ali Bin Mehboub Al Raisi, Director General of the Census Department in Oman, pointed out that the Omani population covered by the enumeration was the totality of the members of Omani households residing in Oman, irrespective of their place of residence at the census reference moment.

He pointed out that the average number of people in an Omani household had declined from eight in the 2003 census to 7.5 in the current count.

The participation of Omani women in the work force kept increasing and reached 27 per cent of the total national work force, from 22.2 per cent in 2003 and 8.6 per cent in 1993.

Al Raisi pointed out that the illiteracy rate of the Omani population also dropped from 21.9 per cent in 2003 to 12.2 per cent in the latest census,

For the first time Oman employed e-Census, allowing residents to fill in their own details online besides continuing the use of hand-held PDA (personal digital assistant) instruments by about 5,200 enumerators.

The enumerators faced difficulties counting camp workers due to different shift times as well as field work.