RIYADH — The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) revealed on Thursday that the unemployment rate among Saudis dropped to 7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, marking a historic low and meeting the initial Vision 2030 target — five years ahead of schedule. The original target was to reduce unemployment to 7 percent by 2030, but after nearing that goal earlier than expected, it was revised to 5 percent in 2025. According to labor market statistics for Q4 2024, published by GASTAT on Thursday, the Saudi unemployment rate declined by 0.8 percentage points compared to Q3 2024 and showed the same year-on-year decrease from Q4 2023. The overall unemployment rate for the total Saudi population stood at 3.5 percent, reflecting a 0.2 percentage point drop from Q3 2024 and a slight year-on-year increase of 0.1 percentage point. Labor force participation for the total population was 66.4 percent, down 0.2 percentage points quarter-on-quarter and 0.6 percentage points year-on-year. Among Saudis, the labor force participation rate decreased by 0.4 percentage points from the previous quarter to 51.1 percent, while it recorded a year-on-year increase of 0.7 percentage points. The Saudi employed-to-population ratio rose slightly by 0.1 percentage point quarter-on-quarter to 47.5 percent, representing a one percentage point increase from Q4 2023. Labor market indicators also showed a 0.2 percentage point decline in the Saudi female labor force participation rate, which stood at 36 percent in Q4 2024. However, the female employed-to-population ratio rose by 0.5 percentage points to reach 31.8 percent. The unemployment rate among Saudi women dropped by 1.7 percentage points to 11.9 percent compared to Q3 2024. Among Saudi men, the labor force participation rate declined by 0.7 percentage points to 66.2 percent, while the employed-to-population ratio fell to 63.4 percent. The unemployment rate among Saudi men declined to 4.3 percent in Q4 2024.
