Saudi Arabia: Private sector employment in Saudi Arabia reached 11.4 million by the end of June, marking a 1.24 percent increase from April.

The National Labor Observatory has released a detailed report on the state of the Kingdom’s labor market, highlighting the robust nature of the private sector and its ability to generate employment opportunities, making it a significant contributor to the national economy.

According to the NLO study, the total number of employees in the Kingdom’s private sector has reached 11,409,348, with the number of Saudi nationals standing at 2.34 million – an increase of 16,598 since April.

The increase of the Kingdom’s nationals working in private enterprise signifyies the effectiveness of government policies aimed at encouraging local employment and reducing unemployment.

Of those Saudis working in the private sector, 1.38 million are male and 957,798 are female.

In an interview with Arab News before the latest figures were released, Saudi-based economist Talat Hafiz noted that one of the main goals of Saudi Vision 2030 is to reduce the unemployment rate in the Kingdom to 7 percent by 2030 and increase female participation in the labor market to 30 percent.

Hafiz added: “Government’s efforts to date are successful in reaching such goals, evidenced by the drop of the unemployment rate of Saudi nationals to 7.7 percent in 2023 from the base rate of 12.3 percent in 2016 and increased female participation in the labor market to 35 percent compared to the original target of 30 percent.”

The unemployment rate of females in Saudi Arabia dropped to 15.5 percent in 2023 compared to 33 percent in 2016, according to Hafiz.