The Gulf countries in general, and Saudi Arabia in particular, have emerged as the prime destination for Nepali migrants. Although there is no record of the first arrival of Nepali migrants in Saudi Arabia, it can be presumed from available data that Nepalis migrated to Saudi Arabia much earlier than 1990 for the Nepali migrant population in Saudi Arabia to have reached close to 200,000 by that year, which is from when data is available. The number of Nepali migrants has grown consistently thereafter to reach nearly half a million in 2017.
