The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) said Tuesday that the unemployment rate among Saudis in Q3 of 2024 was 7.8%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points over Q2 of this same year, and a year-on-year decrease of 1 percentage point from Q3 2023.
The Labor Market Bulletin for the third quarter of 2024 also shows that the Saudi and non-Saudi labor force stood at 66.6%, a 0.4 percentage point increase over Q2 of 2024.
Among Saudis, the labor force grew by 0.7 percentage points, to reach 51.5%, 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%, 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%, in the mentioned period.
The employment-to-population ratio among Saudi women rose by 0.5 percentage points, reaching 31.3%. Among Saudi women aged 15–24, participation in the labor force increased by 1 percentage point, to 18%, while the employment-to-population ratio among this age group rose by 0.6 percentage points, to 13.6%, in Q3 of 2024.
Participation in the labor force among young Saudi men increased by 1.1 percentage points, to 34.6%.
Among Saudi men in general, participation in the labor force increased by 0.6 percentage points, to 66.9%, and the employment-to-population ratio reached 63.7%.
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%, and the employment-to-population ratio increased by 0.3 percentage points, to 64.8%.
