Bahrain: Huge decline in foreign labour

Cairo: The numbers of foreign workers in Bahrain have significantly dropped amid a government policy replacing expatriates with citizens in jobs, according to a Bahraini media report.

The numbers of foreign employees in the kingdom have declined to 456,840 this year against 477,741 in 2019, according to figures from Bahrain’s state Social Insurance organisation.

Meanwhile, the numbers of Bahraini employees have reached a total of 144,511, including 47,544 in the public sector and 96,967 in the private sector, a ministry’s report said, according to Akhbar Al Khaleej.

The average wage for the Bahraini is estimated at BD913, while 330,000 expatriate employees are paid BD200 on average, it added.

Foreigners account for more than half of Bahrain’s 1.7 million population.

The job replacement in Bahrain is part of efforts to protect citizens from economic impact of the novel coronavirus.