RIYADH — The unemployment rate among Saudi women aged 15 years and above reached 20.2 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2022 compared to 22.5 percent by the end of the fourth quarter of 2021. This is the lowest unemployment rate recorded among Saudi women in 20 years since 2001 when it was 17.3 percent, according to a report carried by Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper based on official data. On the other hand, the economic participation rate of Saudi women in the labor market decreased to 33.6 percent by the end of the first quarter of 2022, against 35.6 percent by the end of the fourth quarter of 2021. The economic participation rate of Saudi women at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 was the highest in history. Thus, the economic participation of Saudi women exceeded the target of 25 percent set in the National Transformation Program 2020, while the rate of economic participation set as a baseline within the program was 17 percent, recorded in 2017, the report indicated.
