Revealed: Average Arab expatriate salaries in the Gulf
Average wages earned by Arab expats across all the positions fell by 0.08 per cent, finds 2017 Gulf Business salary survey
Arab expatriates in the GCC saw a small drop in their salaries in the last year according to the 2017 Gulf Business salary survey, the only expatriate group not to see a rise in wages.
The average monthly salary earned by a Arab expatriate across the GCC fell by 0.08 per cent, from $11,787 in last year’s survey to $11,778 this year.
But those in certain sectors bucked the trend.
Information technology and digital marketing professionals in particular are in high demand as the need for technology based payment solutions, online branding and the development of apps increases.
This was shown with a 7.96 per cent increase in the average salary for Arab advertising creative managers from $7,985 last year to $8,621 on this year’s survey.
“At present technology is a sector which I believe will not see a slowdown for some time,” says Jennifer Campori, managing director of Charterhouse Middle East.
“Technology has many pros and cons. The pros being that technology makes our life easier and it takes less time to get things done. The cons are that we take technology for granted and can lose sight of reality.”
The Gulf Business 2017 Salary Survey polled the average remuneration for 20 roles, including finance, real estate and media, across the six Gulf countries.
Average monthly salary in USD ($) for an Arab expatriate employee in the Gulf
| BAHRAIN | KSA | KUWAIT | UAE | OMAN | QATAR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEO/MD – Multinational | 33,990 | 41,716 | 35,789 | 37,555 | 29,202 | 43,017 |
| CEO/MD – Local Company | 21,841 | 26,487 | 23,366 | 23,632 | 20,339 | 27,012 |
| Human Resources – Manager | 9,338 | 12,924 | 9,759 | 11,666 | 9,333 | 9,000 |
| Information Technology – Manager | 12,177 | 15,528 | 13,592 | 14,130 | 12,710 | 15,733 |
| Sales/Marketing – Account Manager | 6,096 | 8,054 | 6,360 | 7,185 | 5,928 | 8,079 |
| Legal – Lawyer Marketer/Manager | 10,652 | 12,814 | 10,963 | 11,725 | 9,749 | 12,575 |
| Facilities Management – Manager | 7,514 | 11,222 | 9,233 | 9,648 | 8,533 | 10,400 |
| Finance & Accounting – Manager | 8,882 | 11,459 | 8,827 | 10,073 | 8,070 | 11,461 |
| Recruitment – Manager | 7,014 | 10,639 | 8,438 | 8,561 | 7,460 | 7,000 |
| Healthcare – General Practitioner/ Manager | 9,140 | 14,033 | 10,322 | 10,865 | 9,779 | 11,800 |
| Real Estate – Manager | 9,271 | 14,330 | 9,424 | 9,809 | 8,904 | 12,800 |
| Banking – Branch Manager | 8,824 | 13,219 | 9,489 | 10,864 | 8,233 | 11,350 |
| Banking – Treasury Manager | 11,405 | 16,874 | 13,256 | 13,738 | 10,929 | 14,800 |
| Banking – Retail/Personal Banking Manager | 8,918 | 12,598 | 9,537 | 10,873 | 8,471 | 11,420 |
| Media – Advertising Creative Manager | 8,096 | 10,551 | 8,630 | 9,035 | 8,115 | 7,300 |
| Media – Public Relations Manager | 7,170 | 9,672 | 7,831 | 8,359 | 7,280 | 9,488 |
| Media – Publishing Editor | 6,540 | 7,747 | 7,069 | 7,362 | 6,789 | 5,500 |
| Construction – Project Manager | 11,338 | 15,009 | 12,358 | 12,484 | 10,574 | 14,126 |
| Events – Manager | 5,892 | 8,256 | 7,047 | 7,310 | 6,113 | 8,000 |
| Executive Secretary/PA | 5,155 | 6,192 | 5,063 | 5,557 | 4,572 | 6,137 |
The 2017 salary survey was compiled based on inputs from regional recruitment companies including Nadia and Charterhouse. Click here for the complete report.