Saudi Women's Labour Force Participation Increases To 36.2% According To GASTAT Q3 Report

The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) has published the Labor Market Bulletin for the third quarter of 2024. The report reveals that Saudi Arabia's unemployment rate among Saudis was 7.8% during this period. This marks an increase of 0.7 percentage points from the second quarter of 2024, but a decrease of 1 percentage point compared to the same quarter in 2023.

In Q3 2024, the overall labor force participation rate, including both Saudis and non-Saudis, reached 66.6%. This represents a rise of 0.4 percentage points from Q2 of the same year. Specifically among Saudis, the labor force participation grew by 0.7 percentage points to reach 51.5%, showing a year-on-year increase of the same margin.

The bulletin highlights an increase in Saudi women's participation in the workforce, which rose by 0.8 percentage points to reach 36.2% during this period. The employment-to-population ratio for Saudi women also saw an improvement, increasing by 0.5 percentage points to stand at 31.3%.

For young Saudi women aged between 15 and 24, labor force participation increased by 1 percentage point to reach 18%. Additionally, their employment-to-population ratio improved by 0.6 percentage points, reaching 13.6% in Q3 of this year.

The participation rate in the labor force among young Saudi men rose by 1.1 percentage points to reach 34.6%. Overall, Saudi men's participation in the labor force increased by 0.6 percentage points to hit a total of 66.9%, with their employment-to-population ratio reaching 63.7%.

Among Saudis aged between 25 and 54 years, both men and women saw their labor force participation rise by 0.7 percentage points to reach a total of 69.4%. The employment-to-population ratio for this age group also increased slightly by 0.3 percentage points to stand at 64.8%.

The employment-to-population ratio among Saudis as a whole went up by a modest margin of 0.2 percentage points, reaching a level of 47.4%. This reflects an annual growth rate of approximately 1.1 percentage points over the past year.

With inputs from SPA