Kuwaiti labour market lost 199,000 non-Kuwaiti workers from over 15 different activities during the 12 months between March 2020 and March 2021, local daily Al-Qabas reported.

According to the report, the real estate activities sector had the highest labour loss, with 53,000 workers left the country, followed by the wholesale and retail trade, vehicle and bicycle repair sector, which lost nearly 37,000 workers.

With the continued closure of the labour market and recruitment of workers from abroad in light of the Corona pandemic, no sector recorded an increase in the number of workers in the mentioned period, except for the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning sector, which increased by 369 workers.

According to the report, there was a noticeable decrease in the number of registered workers in the construction sector by more than 30,000 workers and the manufacturing industry, which lost 27,000 people.

Transport and storage sector witnessed a reduction of 12,000 workers while Agriculture and hunting 10,500 Accommodation and food services 8,500 Sanitation and water 8,000 Mining and quarrying 5,000 and Education: 2,000 workers left during the period.

Sectors such as Information and Communications, Financial and Insurance activities, Education, Arts, Entertainment and Leisure, Human Health and Social Work, etc., the effect was very negligible.

Meanwhile, the total number of work permits renewed for employment exceeded 402,000 in the first half of this year, while the number of workers in the private sector stabilized at 1.5 million.