Saudi Arabia’s workforce hits 17.2M by Q3 2024

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The number of workers in Saudi Arabia reached 17.2 million by the end of Q3 2024, labor market statistics from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) showed.

The total number of workers in Saudi Arabia includes those subject to social insurance and civil service regulations and policies.

Most of the workers in Saudi Arabia are concentrated in the private sector at 66%, followed by government sector (7%), public sector (3%), and domestic workers (23%).

According to the GASTAT data, the number of foreign workers in Saudi Arabia reached about 13.2 million, representing 77% of the total, while the number of Saudi workers reached four million, or 23% of the total.

In terms of education, the number of Saudi workers who obtained a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent topped the list at about 39%.

Meanwhile, most of the foreign workers, or nearly 28% were holders of the secondary certificate.

As for the administrative regions, 45% of the total Saudi workers, or about 1.78 million, were in Riyadh, then the Eastern Province (about 18%), and Makkah (17%).

Foreign workers, except for domestic labor, were also concentrated in Riyadh, reaching about 4.35 million.

As for the number of Saudi workers according to age groups, the survey showed that the highest percentage was in the age group of 30-34 years, representing 17% of the total Saudi workforce, or 684,600 workers. Meanwhile, the lowest percentage of Saudi workers was in the age group of above 65 years (15,000 workers).

Most of foreign workers in Saudi Arabia were in the age group between 35-39 years, with about 1.75 million workers, representing 13% of the total foreign workers in the Kingdom.

According to the data, the average monthly wage for Saudi workers was SAR 10,119, compared to SAR 4,202 for foreigners.