Omani women outpace men in higher education

Muscat: In the Sultanate of Oman, 60 percent of the total holders of bachelor’s degree or higher grades are women, and the illiteracy rate in Omani women decreased to 6.3 percent in 2021, compared to 2017, when the rate was 6.8 percent.

The number of Omani children in the age group of 0-17 years reached 1,221,751, constituting 44 percent of the total Omani population of 2,804,117 until the end of 2021, according to the Special Categories Bulletin for the year 2022 issued by the National Center for Statistics and Information.

The rate of Omani children increased by 16 percent between 2017 and 2021, with the highest percentage of them concentrated in the Governorate of North Al Batinah at 44 percent of the total Omani population of the governorate.

Population demographics

The bulletin stated that the number of Omani youth in the age group of 18 to 29 years amounted to 544,983 young men and women, representing 19.4 percent of the total Omani population, and that 51 percent of the youth are males and 49 percent of females, and 60 percent of the employed Omani youth are in the private, family and civil sectors.

The bulletin indicates that the number of Omani elderly in the age group (60 years and over) increased from 149,824 in 2017 to 154,405 in 2021, constituting 5.5 percent of the total Omani population.

While the number of Omani females by the end of 2021 reached 1,391,609, representing 49.6 percent of the total Omani population for the year 2021.

Fertility Rates

As for the age-related fertility rates for Omani females, it decreased from 4 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age (15-49 years) in 2017 to 3.4 per thousand women of childbearing age for the year 2021.

The number of Omanis with disabilities reached 42,613, constituting 1.5 percent of the total Omanis, of whom 61 percent were males compared to 39 percent of females in 2021. The highest percentage of persons with disabilities was concentrated in the Governorate of North Al Batinah with a rate of 22 percent, followed by the Governorate of Muscat with a rate of 16 percent. And Al-Dakhiliyah Governorate, with a rate of 13.9 percent, while the lowest percentage was in the Al-Wusta Governorate, with a rate of 0.6 percent.

The bulletin indicated that 57 percent of persons with disabilities are the result of congenital causes, and that 17.6 percent of the disabilities were during childbirth.

Social Security Statistics

The bulletin indicated that the number of cases benefiting from social security amounted to 72,675 by the end of 2021, constituting 2.6 percent of the total Omani population, decreasing by 8.6 percent between the years (2017-2021), as North Al Batinah included the highest cases of social security beneficiaries.

With a rate of 26 percent of the total beneficiary cases, and that 42 percent of the beneficiary cases from social security are from the old age category, followed by the disability category at 29 percent.