Saudi Arabia unemployment rate 2025| ��ƽ��

Unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia from 1991 to 2025

Characteristic	Unemployment rate
2025	3%
2024	3.5%
2023	4%
2022	5.6%
2021	6.6%
2020	7.7%
2019	5.6%
2018	6%
2017	5.9%
2016	5.6%
2015	5.6%
2014	5.9%
2013	5.6%
2012	5.6%
2011	5.8%
2010	5.6%
2009	5.4%
2008	5.1%
2007	5.7%
2006	6.3%
2005	6.1%
2004	5.8%
2003	5.6%
2002	5.3%
2001	4.6%
2000	4.6%
1999	4.3%
1998	4.8%
1997	5.3%
1996	5.8%
1995	6.4%
1994	6.7%
1993	7%
1992	7.2%
1991	7.3%

Download

Source

Show detailed source information?

Already a member?

Source

Release date

July 2026

More information

Region

Saudi Arabia

Survey time period

1991 to 2025

Supplementary notes

All figures are modeled ILO estimates.

Citation formats

In 2025, Saudi Arabia's unemployment rate was approximately three percent, compared with 3.5 percent in 2024.

Where are people employed?

Saudi Arabia's population is around 33 million inhabitants, and of the employed workforce, most have jobs in the oil and gas industry. This is to be expected, as the economy is based on the production and trade of oil, and as such the oil sector has a value of about 1.1 trillion Saudi riyals.

Facing challenges

Saudi Arabia has several economic challenges to face, including the environmentally disastrous impact of its oil and natural gas production; state-funded company Saudi Aramco is listed at the top polluter worldwide. Socially, Saudi Arabia has had a tumultuous past in terms of women's rights, where women only gained the right to drive in 2018 thanks to a series of reforms and compose just 18 percent of the labor force.