GCC expat transfers hit $57.7bln in 6 months; UAE leads -analysis

PHOTO

Transfers by expatriates working in Gulf countries have risen on a year-on-year basis by around 4.8% in the first six months of 2018, data compiled by Mubasher showed.

These transfers grew to a combined value of $57.71 billion from five out of six GCC members, from $55.05 billion in H1-18. Oman was excluded from this calculation due to the absence of recent data.

Combined, Gulf countries rank second worldwide in terms of expatriate transfers, after the United States, as these nations rely heavily on foreign workers in a variety of fields. Despite that, several GCC members have been moving towards reducing expatriates by imposing fees so as to hire their own citizens.

Among these countries are Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Below is a by-country dissection of expatriate transfers in the first six months of 2018.

UAE

The UAE registered the highest value of expatriate transfers at $23.9 billion in the period from January to June 2018, a rise of 12.7% year-on-year.

Indian expatriates logged the highest value and volume of transfers, accounting for around 87% of transfers with $20.87 billion, data by Mubasher showed.

Expatriates from Pakistan, the Philippines, Egypt, and the US were also among the top making transfers from the UAE to their home countries.

Saudi Arabia

The kingdom ranked second with $18.95 billion, a marginal increase of 0.06% from $18.94 billion in expatriate transfers seen in H1-17, according to the Saudi Monetary Authority (SAMA).

This rise came despite the kingdom’s ongoing moves towards Saudising several sectors as well as imposing higher fees on private-sector expatriates’ dependents.

Data released by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) showed that the number of non-Saudi workers in the kingdom reached 10.788 million by the end of June 2018.

Kuwait

Despite Kuwait imposing fees on expatriate transfers, their sum grew by 7.2% in H1-18 to $7.31 billion from $6.82 billion in the same period of 2017.

Accordingly, Kuwait ranks third in terms of the largest value of expatriate transfers.

Qatar

In Qatar, transfers dropped 15.8% in H1-18 to $5.78 billion from $6.86 billion in the year-ago period. This decline came despite the countdown to Qatar’s World Cup 2022 and the country’s growing need for workers to accommodate it construction plans.

Qatar is home to 2.1 million expatriates, whereas its population ranges between 2.5 million and 2.6 million people, meaning that expatriates represent around 88% of the Gulf country’s total population.

Bahrain

Bahrain registered the lowest value of expatriate transfers with $1.77 billion in H1-18, a year-on-year rise of 43.1% from $1.24 billion.

By the end of Q2-18, the number of expatriates in Bahrain had fallen by 0.9% to 600,860 from 606,360 in the corresponding period of 2017.

Oman

Although there has been no updated data on the value of expatriate transfers from those working in Oman, the latest available data showed that the sultanate saw $9.8 billion in transfers in the full-year 2017, up 4.85% year-on-year from $10.3 billion.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is syndicated or provided to this website from an external third party provider. We are not responsible for, and do not control, such external websites, entities, applications or media publishers. The body of the text is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and has not been edited in any way. Neither we nor our affiliates guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions expressed in this article. Read our full disclaimer policy here.