RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s overall unemployment rate fell to 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2026 from 3.5 percent in the previous three months, as the Kingdom’s labor market remained resilient, official data showed.
Figures released by the General Authority for Statistics showed that while there was a quarter-on-quarter decline of 0.4 percentage points, the level was 0.3 percentage points higher than the same period a year earlier.
The overall labor force participation rate eased to 67.2 percent in the first quarter, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous three months and 1 percentage point lower than a year earlier. Meanwhile, the overall employment-to-working-age population ratio edged up to 65.1 percent from 65 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Saudi Arabia has already achieved its Vision 2030 target of reducing the Saudi unemployment rate to 7 percent ahead of schedule and continues to focus on increasing women’s participation in the workforce, a key pillar of its labor market reforms.
“The unemployment rate among Saudis stood at 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2026, decreasing by 0.8 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, while increasing by 0.1 percentage point year-on-year compared to the first quarter of 2025,” said GASTAT.
The employment-to-population ratio among Saudis reached 45.8 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous quarter and 2.2 percentage points lower than the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
The labor force participation rate among Saudis stood at 49 percent, down 0.5 percentage points from the previous quarter and 2.3 percentage points lower than the same quarter of 2025.
The unemployment rate among Saudi females stood at 9 percent in the first quarter, representing a 1.3-percentage-point decline from the previous three months.
“The labor force participation rate among Saudi females also declined by 0.6 percentage points to 33.9 percent, while the employment-to-population ratio decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 30.8 percent, compared to the previous quarter,” said GASTAT.
It added: “Among Saudi males, the unemployment rate decreased by 0.7 percentage points to 4.9 percent. The labor force participation rate also declined by 0.5 percentage points to 64.2 percent, while the employment-to-population ratio recorded a slight decrease of 0.1 percentage point to 61 percent, compared to the previous quarter.”
Unemployed Saudi job seekers used an average of three active job-search methods per person.
Direct applications to employers remained the most common approach, cited by 74.6 percent of respondents. This was followed by Jadarat, the Unified National Employment Platform, which was used by 55.2 percent of job seekers, while 48.5 percent reported updating or posting their CVs on professional social media platforms.
Some 95.8 percent of unemployed Saudi nationals indicated they would accept a job offer in the private sector.
