Muscat: Number of expats in Oman reached 2,004,820, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Out of this, the total number of expatriate workforce in the Sultanate had reached 1,747,000 by the end of March 2016.
Number of Omanis working in the private sector stands at 209,620 at the end of December 2016 and expat workers at 1,697,671 at the end of December.
The statistics show that only 12.35 per cent of Omanis work in the private sector while the rest are expats. The expat figure in Oman is dominated by three Asian countries where the number of Indians stands at 669,882; Bangladeshis 590,170 and Pakistanis 220,112.
The NCSI report also says that over the February-March period in 2016, the expatriate population increased in number by 12,113, constituting around 45% of the total population in Oman as of March 2016.
The highest growth rate in population was recorded in the governorate of Dhofar at 0.9%, with population rising to 413,437, with expatriates constituting 211,548.
Muscat has the largest population at 1,382,035, with 881,226 expatriates and 500,809 Omanis.
The governorate witnessed a 0.6% rise in its population in March compared with February. Omanis accounted for 36.2% of Muscat population.
Al Batinah North registered a population of 712,563, making it the second most populated governorate, while Al Batinah South had a population of 392,868 in March.
Both governorates logged a population growth of 0.5% in March over February.
Musandam’s population grew by 0.4% to 42,701, while Al Buraimi posted a 0.5% growth to touch 106,590. Ad Dakhiliyah has a population of 432,753, which is 0.4% higher than that in February.
Ash Sharqiyah South marked a 0.7% increase in population at 290,103, while Ash Sharqiyah North witnessed a 0.6% upswing at 259,406.
Among the remaining governorates, Adh Dhahirah saw its population grow by 0.5% to 199,839, while Al Wusta too registered a rise in population at 0.5% taking the total number of people to 42,871.