Revealed: Average Western expatriate salaries in the Gulf

The average monthly salary earned by a Western expatriate across the GCC rose only by 0.22 per cent, from $12,350 in last year’s survey to $12,377 in the 2017 Gulf Business salary survey.

However, Western expatriates continue to earn the highest among all our three racial groups, pocketing on average 32 per cent more than Asian peers and 5 per cent more than their Arab peers.

The highest paid worker – according to our survey – is a Western managing director or CEO of a multinational in Saudi Arabia, who receives a salary of $42,389 per month on average.

Overall, the report also found that for the topmost position across the region – the CEO or managing director of a multinational – average salaries were down 0.76 per cent on the previous year from $35,092 to $34,826.

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 a Western expatriate employee in the Gulf

	BAHRAIN	KSA	KUWAIT	UAE	OMAN	QATAR
CEO/MD – Multinational	34,740	42,389	35,701	36,704	33,098	40,702
CEO/MD – Local Company	22,646	27,632	24,514	25,551	20,581	26,924
Human Resources – Manager	9,861	13,015	10,121	11,690	11,061	12,597
Information Technology – Manager	12,072	15,052	12,537	14,209	12,211	14,988
Sales/Marketing – Account Manager	6,868	9,297	7,736	8,038	7,259	8,186
Legal – Lawyer Marketer/Manager	9,976	12,784	11,484	11,673	9,958	12,131
Facilities Management – Manager	7,850	11,895	9,969	10,032	8,913	10,765
Finance & Accounting – Manager	8,967	10,996	9,502	10,433	8,858	10,872
Recruitment – Manager	6,673	10,491	7,850	8,323	7,367	8,896
Healthcare – General Practitioner/ Manager	8,603	13,105	9,670	10,322	9,779	10,976
Real Estate – Manager	11,283	13,352	10,707	10,657	8,610	12,330
Banking – Branch Manager	11,717	13,295	12,222	12,007	9,438	13,146
Banking – Treasury Manager	14,635	16,873	15,656	15,426	12,910	17,063
Banking – Retail/Personal Banking Manager	10,747	11,991	11,483	11,833	10,420	12,891
Media – Advertising Creative Manager	8,614	12,120	9,778	10,089	8,668	10,495
Media – Public Relations Manager	7,895	10,577	8,768	9,366	7,905	10,037
Media – Publishing Editor	6,241	7,962	6,600	7,658	6,494	7,802
Construction – Project Manager	12,551	16,876	13,969	15,072	11,808	15,610
Events – Manager	5,463	8,762	6,656	7,169	5,708	7,898
Executive Secretary/PA	5,124	5,774	5,482	5,647	4,787	6,029

The 2017 salary survey was compiled based on inputs from regional recruitment companies including Nadia and Charterhouse. Click here for the complete report.