A stubbornly high youth unemployment rate is one of Oman's most pressing internal issues. Roughly half of Oman's youths are unemployed, the World Bank estimates.
In 2011, late Sultan Qaboos announced the creation of 50,000 jobs for Omanis in an attempt to defuse unprecedented nationwide protests. Similar promises were made in 2017, 2018 and 2019, yet many Omanis await structural economic reforms, as the hydrocarbon industry accounts for 74% of government revenues but employs only 16,000 citizens of the Gulf state.
