MUSCAT – As per the data from the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the number of Bangladeshi workers dropped from 637,152 in 2024 to 621,048 in June 2025.

This drop follows the imposition of a visa ban on Bangladeshi nationals in October 2023, with limited exemptions including family, official, and professional visas, as well as visit visas for those residing in GCC countries and certain high-income tourists.

A similar downward trend was seen among other South Asian communities. The number of Sri Lankan workers decreased from 24,156 in 2024 to 22,440 this year. The Pakistani workforce also shrank slightly, from 317,296 to 312,105, while the Filipino expatriate population declined from 44,913 to 44,438.
Conversely, Indian expatriate numbers saw a marginal increase, rising from 506,630 to 508,386, suggesting relative stability in that demographic.

Meanwhile, there has been a noticeable uptick in the presence of workers from other nations. Egyptian expatriates increased from 45,921 to 47,613, Myanmar nationals from 33,110 to 36,375, and Tanzanians from 23,530 to 26,206. However, the number of Sudanese expatriates saw a slight decrease from 23,545 to 21,344.