Saudi Arabia’s unemployment rate in Q3 drops as more women join workforce
▶ Overall jobless rate among Saudis and foreign residents declines to 5.1 per cent, Gastat data shows
The unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia slid in the third quarter of 2023 on an annual basis due to a higher employment rate among women, according to the latest data.
The overall unemployment rate in the kingdom – including Saudis and foreign residents – declined to 5.1 per cent in the third quarter, compared with 5.8 per cent for the same period in 2022, 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 same quarter of 2022, the data showed.
For Saudi women, the rate stood at 8.6 per cent, compared with 9.9 per cent for the corresponding period in 2022.
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 in the July-September period rose 0.2 percentage points from the previous quarter, amid a higher unemployment rate among women, the latest data showed.
Saudi Arabia aims to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons 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 in 2023, and this is projected to fall further to 7.8 per cent by the end of the year, Jadwa Investment said in April.
The overall labour market participation rate for Saudis 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-Saudis during the period.
The World Bank said the Saudi private sector workforce has grown steadily, reaching 2.6 million in early 2023. Women’s participation in the labour market more than doubled 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 was set to contract by 0.5 per cent in 2023 before rebounding to 4.1 per cent in 2024. The oil sector was expected to contract by 8.4 per cent amid production cuts by Opec+, while the non-oil sector was projected to expand 4.3 per cent, according to the World Bank.
Women’s unemployment rate during the July-September period fell to 13.7%, from 16.6% in the same quarter of 2022