Unemployment Rate Among Saudis Drops to Historic Low of 6.3% in Q1 2025
The results of the Q1 Labor Force Survey, released today by the General Authority for Statistics, show that the unemployment rate among Saudis has declined to a historic low of 6.3% in the first quarter of 2025, down from 7% at the end of Q4 2024.
This marks the lowest unemployment level ever recorded in the Kingdom, surpassing the Saudi Vision 2030 target of reducing unemployment to 7%. The Ministry of Human Resources is now aiming for a new target of 5%.
The unemployment rate among Saudi males stood at approximately 4.0%, while the rate among Saudi females reached 10.5%. For non-Saudis, the unemployment rate was 0.8%.
According to the Authority, based on labor force survey estimates, the overall unemployment rate for the working-age population was 2.8% in Q1 2025, compared to 3.5% in Q4 2024.
The data also showed a rise in the labor force participation rate for Saudi males, reaching 66.4% in Q1 2025.
The labor force participation rate among Saudi females also increased, reaching 36.3% in the same period.
It is worthy to note that the Northern Borders Region recorded the highest overall unemployment rate among Saudi regions at 5.1%, while Riyadh and the Eastern Province reported the lowest rates at 1.4% and 1.9%, respectively.
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