January 2004 Salary Survey of Expats in Arab Gulf Countries - Gulf Business

Please be patient, large images (200k x 4) downloading...

Salary scales in the Arab GCC countries depend on which passport your hold. The four classes of expats, from highest paid to lowest are: Local Arab --> Western --> other Arab --> Asian (India, Philipeans, Pakistan, etc).

Arab National (local Arab citizen)

In my opinion, the local Arab salary scale doesn't give a complete picture. It is often more difficult for local Arabs to get hired, especially at lower levels where Asians will work for half the salary. Businesses are also sometimes wary of special legal rights given to Arab nationals. In Saudi Arabia, the unemployment rate is estimated to be as high as 30%, due to companies preference for foreign labor.

KSA = Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Western Expat

Western expats enjoy tax free salaries, housing and car perks, and higher salaries than what they can make back home (for certain job categories). Highly skilled Lebanese can also be included in this category. Skilled Lebanese are often western educated and trained and have the advantage of speaking Arabic and French.

Arab Expat

This is always a non-GCC country like Eqypt, Jordan, Palestine, etc.

Asian Expat (mainly India)