ABHA — The rate of expatriates who left the Saudi employment market during the first quarter of 2021 hit the lowest level on a quarterly basis since the end of the second quarter of last year. More than 18,000 foreigners left the labor market in the first three months of the current year while compared to 137,000 who left their jobs between the third and fourth quarters of last year, a drop of more than 87 percent, according to the data from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) and the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI). The data showed that there has been a decrease in the number of foreigners working in the private sector to 6,254,660 at the end of the first quarter of this year, compared to 6,273,354 at the end of 2020, as 18,694 foreigners left their jobs in the private sector during the first three months of this year as the lowest rate of labor market departures in a year. On the other hand, the number of those who left the labor market reached about 137,000 at the end of the fourth quarter of last year as the number of foreigners working in the private sector at the end of the third quarter of 2020 reached about 6.41 million. At the end of the third quarter of last year, the number of non-Saudi subscribers in GOSI dropped by 1.7 percent, which is equivalent to the exit of 111,410 subscribers from insurance systems compared to their number at the end of the same quarter of 2019. On a quarterly basis, their number reached 6.65 million at the end of the second quarter, down 3.6 percent, indicating the departure of 236,870 subscribers between the second and third quarters of 2020. The number of foreigners in the private sector fell by about 25,300 subscribers, bringing their number to 6.65 million workers in the second quarter of 2020, compared to the first quarter of the same year, as their number reached 6.73 million at the end of the first quarter of 2020, as against 6.65 million subscribers at the end of the second quarter of last year. Apart from domestic workers, the number of expatriates working in three sectors accounted for 39 percent of the foreign workforce. These sectors are wholesale and retail trade, construction and manufacturing. Figures of expatriates who are GOSI subscribers 6.44 million by the end of 2019 6.73 million in first quarter of 2020 6.65 million by end of second quarter of 2020 6.41 million by end of third quarter of 2020 6.27 million by end of fourth quarter 2020 6.25 million by end of first quarter of 2021 Expats leaving private sector jobs 18,694 expatriates between 4Q 2020 and 1Q 2021 137,000 between 3rd and 4th quarters of 2020 237,000 between 3rd and 2nd quarters of 2020 80,000 between 2nd and 1st quarters of 2020 290,000 new foreigners entered by end of 1Q, 2020 GOSI subscribers in private sector –Saudis 1,841,920 subscribers by end of 1st Q 2021 1,749,571 subscribers by end of 2020 Expatriates 6,254,660 subscribers by end of 1st Q of 2021 6,273,354 subscribers by end of 2020 Major employment sectors of expatriates 16% of total expatriates in wholesale and retail trade 12% in construction sector 11% in the manufacturing sector
