By Abdul Rahman Al-Mesbahi

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — As many as 129,000 expatriates left the Kingdom on final exit during the year 2020. At the same time, the number of Saudi men and women who joined the local employment market during the year accounted for 74,000, according to figures based on government reports.

There has been a fall of two percent in the number of foreign workers, reaching 6.35 million by the end of last year. The report showed that the number of Saudis registered with the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) recorded an increase of four percent, reaching 2.03 million during the year.

According to the reports, the last quarter of 2020 witnessed the highest number in the exit of expatriates from the local employment market. During the period, 18,000 Saudis also left their jobs. Among the expatriates who left the Kingdom last year, 120,000 were men.

The number of Saudi men and women working in the government sector stood at 281000 while the citizens working in the private sector account for around 1.75 million. There are 74000 expatriates working in the government sector.

Most of the Saudis who registered with GOSI are in the age group of 20 -24 and it was followed by 15-19 group and 25-29 group in the third place. Most of the new jobs picked by Saudis are in the fields of basic engineering, clerical jobs, specialists in the scientific, technical and humanitarian fields, as well as in sales.