Okaz/Saudi Gazette

RIYADH — A total of 320,574 Saudi men and women joined the labor market in the year 2022. This figure posted an increase of 9.29 percent, bringing the total number of Saudi workers in the employment market to about 3.77 million men and women.

According to figures monitored by Okaz/Saudi Gazette and based on government reports, the number of Saudi women in the labor market reached 200,824 in 2022. This figure records an increase of 15.82 percent, bringing the total number of working Saudi women to about 1.47 million.

The number of Saudi men joining the employment market stood at 119,750, an increase of 5.49 percent taking the total number of Saudi working men to 2.3 million.

The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) recently revealed that the unemployment rate among Saudis recorded a significant drop, which hit 8 percent during the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to 11 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The unemployment rate among Saudi men stood at 4.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022 while the unemployment rate among Saudi women decreased to 15.4 percent. The rate of participation of Saudis in the labor market reached 52.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The total unemployment rate for the working-age population was about 4.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to 5.8 percent in the previous quarter.

The GASTAT noted that 53.1 percent of Saudis are employed in the public sector, while 46.6 percent are working in the private sector, whereas the number of non-Saudis working in the private sector reached 71.6 percent.