Unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia falls to 8 percent

  • Riyadh, KSA
  • 31 March 2023
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The unemployment rate among Saudis reached historic numbers in the last quarter of the previous year, reaching 8 percent and very close to the 7 percent target set in Vision 2030, a difference of only one percentage point. Thanks to government activities and the role of the private sector in employment processes, along with legislation and localization programs in the country that managed to achieve record numbers.

Government procedures and regulations related to human resources, whether in the public or private sectors, as well as foreign companies that entered the local market, and others that decided to move their regional headquarters to Riyadh, contributed at an accelerated pace to job creation, which contributed to reducing the unemployment rate.

The General Authority for Statistics revealed that the unemployment rate for the total population in the Kingdom decreased to 4.8 percent during the last quarter of last year compared to the third quarter, driven by government activities as well as the role of the private sector in employment processes.

The unemployment rate for total Saudis decreased significantly to 8 percent for the last quarter of 2022, compared to 9.9 percent, during the third quarter of the same year.

The results showed a decrease in the unemployment rate, in the last quarter of last year, among Saudi women to 15.4 percent, by 5.1 percentage points, compared to the previous quarter, and by 7.1 percentage points compared to the same quarter of 2021, constituting the highest decrease in female unemployment so far.

Source (Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)