Following an overall decrease in average salary of two per cent in our 2014 survey, pay packets returned to form this year with significant growth seen across the board.
Average salary across all countries, positions and racial groups in our list rose 7.88 per cent, increasing from $10,392 a month to $11,211 a month.
On a country-by-country basis, growth was also seen on average across the board.
In Bahrain, combined average salaries rose by 4.43 per cent, while Saudi Arabia and Qatar saw growth of seven per cent and 7.74 per cent respectively. Oman saw similar gains of 7.9 per cent, while in the neighbouring UAE, a significant 9.97 per cent increase was seen.
Standing at the top of our survey for growth, however, was Kuwait, with average salary for expat professionals rising 10.19 per cent.
THE RACIAL DIVIDE
The gap between Western and Asian expats decreased again in this year’s survey, although only very slightly, with Westerners earning 26.91 per cent more on average.
More progress was also seen between Arab and Asian salaries with the former earning 20 per cent more on average in this year’s survey compared to 24.69 per cent last year.
However, there was a noted widening in the gap between Western and Arab expat salaries, with Westerners gaining ground at 6.96 per cent more on average in the 2015 survey.
