Muscat: Oman’s expatriate population has rapidly grown over the past five years. according to figures released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Currently, expatriates form around 45.5 per cent of the total population, whereas they accounted for 38.9 per cent of the population in 2011 and 29 per cent in 2010.
In April alone, the expatriate population increased by almost one per cent.
The majority of expatriate workers are Indian, accounting for 687,592 people, followed by 630,433 Bangladeshis.
Economy experts say the sharp increase of expatriates is a direct result of Oman’s push to build mega infrastructure projects, which requires massive manpower.
Oman’s population currently stands at 4.4 million with nationals constituting 50.5 per cent of the total population.
The majority of Oman’s residents — over 2.4 million — live in the capital Muscat, according to the released figures.
The next highest populated governorate is North Batinah, which has more than 719,000 residents.
