Number of unemployed Saudis down in Q3 2024

Unemployment among Saudi nationals fell to 7.8 percent in the third quarter of 2024 from 8.8 percent in the same period a year ago, according to state-run General Authority for Statistics data.

But unemployment increased quarter on quarter from 7.1 percent.

The overall unemployment rate, including expatriate workers, climbed to 3.7 percent from 3.3 percent in the second quarter.

Yet it remains lower than the 4.2 percent reported in the third quarter of 2023.

Women workers in the Saudi labour force also reached 36.2 percent in the quarter, up from 35.4 percent a year ago.

Similarly, the labour force among Saudi men increased to 66.9 percent, up from 65.7 percent in the same quarter of the previous year.

• In numbers: the Saudi Arabian economy
• In numbers: the GCC economies
• Saudi R&D growth fuelled by AI and green industries

Unemployment among Saudi women rose to 13.6 percent, down from 16.6 percent a year ago, but higher than the 12.8 percent in the previous quarter. 

Last week, the country’s statistics agency reported that foreign direct investment fell to SAR18 billion ($4.8 billion), compared to SAR22.6 billion in the third quarter of 2023.

In October, the International Monetary Fund lowered its GDP growth forecast for Saudi Arabia for this year to 1.5 percent – below the average of 2.4 percent for the Middle East and Central Asia region.