RIYADH — The unemployment rate among Saudis has dropped to its lowest level reaching 7.7 percent by the end of the fourth quarter of 2023. There has been a fall of 0.9 percent in the unemployment rate during the last quarter compared to 8.6 percent at the end of the third quarter of 2023. The decrease is 0.3 percent compared to the last quarter of 2022 when it stood at 8 percent, according to the latest report of the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). The record fall in the unemployment rate among Saudis attributed mainly to the increase in the number of female workers in light of the growth rates registered in the non-oil activities in the Kingdom, which contributed to providing more job opportunities. It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia has set itself a target unemployment rate of seven percent by 2030. The GASTAT data showed that the ratio of Saudi female workers to the population increased by 0.6 percentage points to reach 30.7 percent, while the rate of Saudi women's participation in the labor force decreased by 0.4 percentage points to reach 35.5 percent. The unemployment rate of Saudi women decreased by 2.6 percentage points to reach 13.7 percent compared to the previous quarter of the same year. With regard to Saudi males, the employment-to-population ratio and the labor force participation rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points to reach 63.5 percent, the authority data showed.
