Dubai, UAE — Saudi Arabia’s unemployment rate dropped in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to the previous quarter, mainly due to government activities and private sector hiring, the kingdom’s General Authority for Statistics said Thursday.
Saudi Press Agency reported that despite the global economic challenges, including those prevailing in the G20 countries, the overall unemployment rate in the kingdom reached 8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to the 9.9 percent in the third quarter.
Legislation and Emiratization programs, job support and follow-up of establishments from all relevant government agencies has led to this rate of unemployment for the total population for the first time, the report said.
The Labor Market Bulletin for the fourth quarter of 2022 said the seasonal job opportunities that accompanied the fourth quarter had an impact on reducing unemployment rates.
GASTAT said Saudi women’s unemployment rate decreased from 20.5 percent in the third quarter of 2022 to 15.4 percent in the fourth quarter. For the males, it dropped marginally from 4.3 in Q3 2022 to 4.2 percent in Q4 2022.
The decrease in unemployment rate comes at a time when the Saudi economy achieved the highest GDP growth of 8.7 percent among the G20 nations. The number of employed people reached a record 2.2 million citizens registered in the social insurance system.