International labour office geneva

Table 3: Work permits granted to Egyptians in Arab countries, by cccupation and year (%) - (1985-1990-

2002) 

Occupation 

1985 1990 2002 

 

Scientists and technicians 

 

20.4 

 

40.2 

 

41.0 

 Managers 

  0.3    0.3    2.4 

 Clerical 

Workers 

  8.8    8.0    1.5 

 

Sales and Services 

 

18.5 

 

17.3 

 

12.7 

 

Agriculture animal husbandry and fishing 

 

8.9 

 

5.3 

 

8.6 

 Production 

workers 

 43.0   28.9   33.8 

 Total 

  100    100    100 

Source: CARIM Database (2005), Demographic and Economic Module referring to data from Ministry of Manpower and 

Emigration, available at 

http://www.carim.org/index.php?areaid=4

 

6 

Labour migration for decent work, economic growth and development in Egypt

 

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Labour migration for decent work, economic growth and development in Egypt  

7 

Regarding the distribution of Egyptian migrants by occupation and country, the Gulf 

countries and Libya absorb highly skilled Egyptian workers (as proxied by their level of 

education and hence the jobs they occupy, as shown in Table 4) in relative terms, whereas 

Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon tend to employ more unskilled Egyptian workers. Based on the 

work permits granted to Egyptians by occupation, Table 4 shows that Egyptian migrants in 

the GCC countries are more skilled relative to those in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.