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Major influx of foreign workers leads to growth in expat remittance

The workers remittances have touched a total of QR25.33bn last year, as per the figures released by the banking regulator, Qatar Central Bank (QCB).

The figures by the Qatar Statistics Authority (QSA) reveal that the population in Qatar peaked to touch a record high of more than 1.63mn last year, which is the major factor for the huge quantum of remittances.

Remittances in 2008 amounted to QR19.03, with the country’s population estimated to be a little more than 1.55mn. The foreign workers account for a major chunk of the country’s population.

The workers’ remittances increased to 33.3 percent during 2008-09, the figures by QCB indicate. During the year 2007, Qatar’s population was a little more than 1.22mn, with the remittances by expat workers touching QR14.25bn.

The remittances were comparatively low at QR14.25bn in 2006, with population being a little more than a million, while in 2005, the total remittance was QR11bn.

The QCB figures indicate that during the five years between 2005 and 2008, the foreign workers, whose number kept growing by the day, remitted almost QR86bn overseas.

Posted on 27/7/2010