Gulf hiring for Nepali workers has roughly halved since the Iran war began

New approvals for Nepali workers heading to the Gulf have fallen by more than half this year. With the region supplying a large share of Nepal's remittances, the slowdown is a warning for households at home and families abroad.

Nepal issued 109,249 new labour approvals for Gulf destinations between February and mid-September 2026, down 52.12 per cent from 228,165 in the same period of 2025, according to a Kathmandu Post analysis published on 26 September.

What the figures show

The decline is uneven. The Post reports falls of 59.05 per cent for the United Arab Emirates, 57.02 per cent for Saudi Arabia, 45.49 per cent for Bahrain, 42.93 per cent for Kuwait and 35.08 per cent for Qatar, while approvals for Oman rose 24.33 per cent. The newspaper attributes the slump to the conflict involving Iran, which has disrupted energy markets and regional economies.

The stakes are large. The same report says roughly 1.9 million Nepali citizens work abroad, nearly 60 per cent of them in the Gulf, and that 40–45 per cent of Nepal's remittances originate there. It also cites a World Bank projection that Gulf growth will slow to 1.3 per cent in 2026 from 4.4 per cent in 2025.

Why hiring falls first

Former ambassador Naradnath Bhardwaj is quoted as saying: "When companies come under financial pressure, they first stop hiring. Then they cut overtime, followed by temporary and lower-skilled workers." That sequence suggests the immediate effect is fewer new departures, with possible pressure on existing workers' hours later.

The International Labour Organisation, as cited by the Post, identifies wholesale and retail trade (17 per cent), construction (14 per cent) and manufacturing and agriculture (8 per cent each) among the more vulnerable sectors where Nepali workers are employed.

What this means for readers

For families in Nepal, fewer departures means fewer new remittance streams at a time when the country is also absorbing the cost of August's floods. For diaspora communities in the UK, the picture may affect informal support to relatives and interest in alternative destinations. Oman's rise shows that redirection is happening, but the data alone do not show whether workers are moving to other regions.

What remains uncertain

This analysis draws on one newspaper's reading of labour-approval data; NepalUK has not independently obtained the underlying Department of Foreign Employment figures. Approvals measure intent to migrate, not remittances received, and the sources reviewed did not include current remittance inflow data. Readers should treat causal claims about the war as the Post's attribution, not settled fact. Prospective migrants should verify employers and permits through official channels.