670,000 expats to leave Saudi Arabia in 3 years

About 670,000 foreign workers are expected to leave Saudi Arabia by 2020, a report prepared by Banque Saudi Fransi revealed.

According to the report, 165,000 expats are expected to leave the country every year, the Saudi newspaper Mecca reported on its website.

In addition, it said that the new fees imposed on the companions of the workers would add about $20 billion to the budget over the next three years.

There are approximately 11.7 million foreigners in Saudi Arabia; 7.4 million work and

the remaining 4.3 million are companions. They make up approximately 1.1 families.

Authorities began collecting fees from companions on July 1 at the time of the renewal of their ID cards. Companions now pay 100 riyals a month ($26.66), due to become 400 riyals ($106.66) a month by 2020.

The kingdom has launched an economic plan to reduce its dependence on oil and diversify its economy. Vision 2030 has seen the country impose taxes, including value added taxes to goods, increase fees and charges and setup new industries including arms manufacturing.