COLOMBO, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Over 290,000 Sri Lankans have left for foreign employment during the first 11 months of this year, an increase of 6.9 percent compared to the same period of last year, the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) said on Tuesday.
The SLBFE said 291,267 people had left for foreign jobs during the period. Middle East remains the most popular area for Sri Lankan people for jobs. Of them, 71,210 have left for Kuwait, 48,083 for the United Arab Emirates, 45,008 for Saudi Arabia, and 43,104 for Qatar, according to the SLBFE.
Sri Lankan workers' remittances reached 5.4 billion U.S. dollars between January and October this year, compared with over 4.8 billion dollars in the corresponding period in 2023, according to the latest report from the country's central bank. ■
