Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Unemployment rate among Saudi nationals reached 7.8 percent in the third quarter of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 1 percentage point from the similar period last year.
Data released by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) said that the Saudi and non-Saudi labor force stood at 66.6 percent, a 0.4 percentage point increase over Q2 of 2024.
Among Saudis, the labor force grew by 0.7 percentage points in Q3 2024, to reach 51.5 percent, marking a year-on-year increase of 0.7 percentage points. The employment-to-population ratio among Saudis went up by 0.2 percentage points, reaching 47.4 percent, or an annual growth of 1.1 percentage points.
The bulletin also highlighted the growth of Saudi women’s participation in the labor force, which increased by 0.8 percentage points, to 36.2 percent, in the mentioned period.
The employment-to-population ratio among Saudi women rose by 0.5 percentage points, reaching 31.3 percent. Among Saudi women aged 15–24, participation in the labor force increased by 1 percentage point, to 18 percent, while the employment-to-population ratio among this age group rose by 0.6 percentage points, to 13.6 percent, in Q3 of 2024.
Participation in the labor force among young Saudi men increased by 1.1 percentage points, to 34.6 percent.
Among Saudi men in general, participation in the labor force increased by 0.6 percentage points, to 66.9 percent, and the employment-to-population ratio reached 63.7 percent.
Among Saudi men and women in the prime working-age group (25–54 years), participation in the labor force rose by 0.7 percentage points, to 69.4 percent, and the employment-to-population ratio increased by 0.3 percentage points, to 64.8 percent.
