Data from the National Center for Statistics and Information in the Sultanate of Oman showed that the number of expatriate workers decreased by more than 270,000, or about 16%, from the end of 2019 to November of this year. The data showed that the number of expatriate workers in November amounted to one million and 440 thousand, down from one million and 710 thousand at the end of last year. Many migrant workers were forced to leave the Arab Gulf countries this year after their economies were affected by the Coronavirus pandemic and the consequent decline in oil demand and oil prices. The International Labor Organization said this year that it expects expatriate workers to leave Gulf Arab countries in greater numbers than what happened following the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 and the fall in oil prices in 2014-2015. More than 340,000 migrant workers left Oman in 2010 after the financial crisis

SOURCE: ALQABAS