RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA — The unemployment rate among Saudi citizens increased to 8.5 percent during the first quarter of 2023, up from 8 percent in the last quarter of 2022, according to a report issued by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics.
This rise was influenced by an increase in the unemployment rate among Saudi women, which reached 15.7 percent, marking a 1.1 percentage point jump from the fourth quarter of 2022.
However, unemployment among young citizens (both male and female) decreased by half a percentage point during the first quarter.
In the first quarter of 2023, the unemployment rate among the Saudi population (males and females) of prime working age (between 25 and 54 years) also increased to 7.8 percent, a rise of 0.8 percentage points compared to the previous quarter.
News in Numbers Unemployment rate for Saudi men reached 4.6%, a decrease of 0.5 percentage points compared to the same quarter of 2022. Job seekers utilized an average of 4.7 active job search strategies. 94.5% of unemployed Saudis indicated willingness to work in the private sector. Over half of unemployed Saudis are willing to commute up to one hour for work. Majority of unemployed Saudis are willing to work eight hours or more per day.
Conversely, the employment-to-population ratio for those of prime working age (25 to 54 years) decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 63.5 percent. Simultaneously, the labor force participation rate among Saudis decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 68.8 percent.
Employment by gender
The labor force participation rate for Saudi women held steady at 36.0 percent in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the previous quarter, showing an increase of 2.4 percentage points when compared to the same quarter of 2022.
In contrast, the unemployment rate for Saudi women climbed by 0.7 percentage points to 16.1 percent. The ratio of Saudi female workers to the population decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 30.2 percent in the first quarter of 2023.
As for Saudi men, the unemployment rate increased by 0.4 percentage points compared to the previous quarter to reach 4.6 percent, which actually marks a decrease of 0.5 percentage points compared to the same quarter of 2022.
Both the labor force participation rate and the employed-to-population ratio decreased by 0.2 and 0.5 percentage points, respectively, compared to the previous quarter, to stand at 68.3 percent and 65.2 percent.
How did Saudis find their jobs?
Unemployed Saudis utilized an average of 4.7 active job search strategies. Asking friends or relatives about job opportunities was the most popular method, utilized by 84 percent of job seekers, while 71.5 percent applied directly to employers.
Other commonly used active search methods included the Unified National Employment Platform (Jadarat), employed by 58.9 percent of Saudis looking for work.
A survey conducted by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics found that 94.5 percent of unemployed Saudis would accept work in the private sector.
The survey results also showed that 55.5 percent of unemployed Saudi women and 45 percent of unemployed Saudi men would accept a commute of up to one hour for work. Furthermore, 74.7 percent of unemployed Saudi women and 88.6 percent of unemployed Saudi men indicated they would accept a working day of eight hours or more.
