Saudi Arabia’s total unemployment rate drops to 2.8%: GSTAT

The General Authority for Statistics of Saudi Arabia, in its latest report on regional employment trends, has found that the unemployment rate among Saudi nationals dropped to a new low of 6.3% in the first quarter of 2025.

Last year, around the same time, the unemployment rate stood at 7%, which was the set target under Vision 2030. This year, the target is to reduce the unemployment rate to 5% for Saudi nationals.

The data also shows that the unemployment rate for the total population, including expats in the region, has dropped to 2.8%, as workforce participation rose to 68.2%.

Interestingly, the unemployment rate among Saudi women has also dropped to a new low of 10.5%, and their workforce participation rate has reached 36.3%, nearly half of the Saudi men’s workforce participation rate of 66.4%.

“The unemployment among Saudi women has declined by more than 11 percentage points since 2021, reaching 10.5%, reflecting the Saudi labor market’s growing capacity to provide economic opportunities for its citizens amid supportive policies focused on development and employment,” the authority stated.

"Meanwhile, the employment-to-population ratio rose by 0.7 percentage points to 32.5%. The unemployment rate among Saudi men also continued its downward trend, falling slightly to 4.0%, a year-on-year decline of 0.2 percentage points," it added.

“The employment-to-population ratio for young Saudi males declined to 29.2%, with their labor force participation falling to 33.0%. Their unemployment rate dropped to 11.6% compared to Q4 of 2024,” the report added.

For Saudi workers aged 55 years or above, the unemployment rate and workforce participation rate have decreased compared to the previous quarter of 2024.