Dubai: The number of Indian expats in Oman has now fallen to 499,431. The government’s Omanisation process and the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic that led to the departure of a large number of Indians to their home country.
According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information, the Indian expat community in the Sultanate declined by 20 per cent by the end of the third quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year.
The Indian community decreased from 542,091 in July to 517,702 in August following government measures to reduce the expatriate population and allow more Omanis to join the job market. However, they Indian community still constitutes the largest expatriate community in the Sultanate.
Foreigners account for more than 40 per cent of Oman’s population of 4.6 million. They have played a major role in the country’s development for several decades. Nearly 25 million foreign workers, mostly South Asians, live and work in the GCC region.
In the same period under review, Bangladeshis also declined 13.9 per cent to 450,471, while Pakistanis were down 15.7 per cent to 176,550, and the number of Filipinos fell 8.2 per cent to 45,038. Meanwhile, the population of Egyptians in Oman fell 8.2 per cent to 31,511 and Ugandans declined by almost half to 14,099.
