Saudi Gazette report
RIYADH — The unemployment price amongst Saudi nationals dropped to an all-time low of 6.3% within the first quarter of 2025, marking the bottom stage because the Kingdom started publishing labor drive knowledge, in keeping with the most recent figures launched by the Common Authority for Statistics.
This historic decline was largely attributed to the growing participation of Saudi ladies within the labor market.
The feminine unemployment price fell to a record-low 10.5%, a year-on-year drop of three.6 share factors.
In the meantime, the labor drive participation price amongst Saudi ladies edged up by 0.3 share factors to succeed in 36.3%, whereas the employment-to-population ratio rose by 0.7 share factors to 32.5%.
The unemployment price amongst Saudi males additionally continued its downward development, falling barely to 4.0%, a year-on-year decline of 0.2 share factors.
Throughout the broader labor market, together with each Saudis and non-Saudis, the general unemployment price fell to 2.8% in Q1 2025, in comparison with 3.5% throughout the identical quarter a yr earlier.
The Kingdom had initially set an bold Imaginative and prescient 2030 goal to scale back Saudi unemployment to 7% by the top of the last decade, an goal it surpassed forward of schedule by the top of 2024. Because of this, the federal government has revised its goal downward to five% by 2030.
In its concluding assertion final week following Article IV consultations, the Worldwide Financial Fund (IMF) recommended Saudi Arabia’s ongoing labor market reforms, noting that the unemployment price amongst Saudi residents had already dropped to 7% in 2024, nicely forward of Imaginative and prescient 2030 targets.