Saudi Arabia’s unemployment rate declines in Q3 as more women take up jobs

Overall unemployment in the kingdom drops year-on-year to 5.1 per cent, latest data shows

Shoppers in Riyadh. Unemployment among Saudi women's fell to 13.7 per cent in the third quarter, compared to 16.6 per cent in the same period last year. AFP

The unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia slid in the third quarter on an annual basis due to a higher employment rate among women, the latest data shows.

The overall unemployment rate in the kingdom – including Saudi nationals and foreign residents – declined to 5.1 per cent in the third quarter, compared to 5.8 per cent for the same period last year, according to a report from the kingdom’s General Authority for Statistics (Gastat).

The unemployment rate among women for the period fell to 13.7 per cent, from 16.6 per cent in the third quarter of last year, data shows.

For Saudi women, the rate stood at 8.6 per cent, compared to 9.9 per cent for the same period last year.

Among female foreign residents it was 1.5 per cent – down from 1.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2022.

However, the overall unemployment rate on a quarter-on-quarter basis rose 0.2 percentage points, amid a higher unemployment rate among women, the latest data shows.

Saudi Arabia aims to diversify its economy away from oil and has launched several new projects to boost employment in the kingdom.

Its Vision 2030 agenda plans to lower the Saudi unemployment rate to 7 per cent and increase the participation of women in the workforce.

The unemployment rate among Saudis stood at 8 per cent last year, and this is projected to fall further to 7.8 per cent by the end of 2023, Jadwa Investment said in an April report.

The overall labour market participation rate for Saudi nationals decreased slightly to 51.6 per cent, down from 52.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2022, according to the Gastat data. It also declined for non-Saudi nationals during the period.

The World Bank in a recent report said the Saudi private sector workforce has grown steadily, reaching 2.6 million in early 2023, with women’s participation in the labour market more than doubling in six years, from 17.4 per cent in early 2017 to 36 per cent in the first quarter of 2023.

“This positive development was a result of an effective reform drive, started by the kingdom’s Vision 2030, that made it significantly easier for more women to join the workforce,” the lender said last month.

Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product is expected to contract by 0.5 per cent this year before rebounding to 4.1 per cent in 2024. The oil sector is expected to contract by 8.4 per cent this year amid production cuts by Opec+, while the non-oil sector is expected to grow at 4.3 per cent, according to the World Bank.