Nearly 62 million people live across the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and more than half of them are foreign workers, according to recent data highlighted by Al Jazeera. These countries include Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.
Together, the Gulf states host about 35 million foreigners who work in sectors ranging from construction and domestic services to banking, engineering, aviation and healthcare. Many workers come from South Asia and other developing regions and play a central role in building the modern infrastructure and economies of the Gulf.
According to data compiled by the UAE-based firm Global Media Insight, the largest expatriate communities across the GCC come from:
- India: 9.1 million
- Bangladesh: 5 million
- Pakistan: 4.9 million
- Egypt: 3.3 million
- Philippines: 2.2 million
- Yemen: 2.2 million
- Nepal: about 1.2 million
- Sudan: 1.1 million
- Syria: about 694,000
- Sri Lanka: about 650,000
Saudi Arabia has the largest population in the GCC at about 37 million people, including around 16.4 million foreign residents. The United Arab Emirates has roughly 11.5 million people, with foreigners making up nearly 88 percent of the population.
In Qatar, foreign workers account for about 88 percent of the country’s 3.2 million residents. Kuwait has around 3.3 million expatriates out of a population of 4.8 million, while Oman hosts more than two million foreign workers.
Bahrain, the smallest GCC country by population with about 1.58 million people, also relies heavily on foreign labour, with expatriates forming nearly half of its residents.
Experts say these migrant communities have become essential to the Gulf economies, supporting both low-wage labour sectors and highly skilled professional industries.
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