2026.06.3006:11:26UTC+00Saudi Arabia Jobless Rate Falls to 3.1%

Saudi Arabia’s unemployment rate declined to 3.1% in the first quarter of 2026, down from 3.5% in the previous quarter, reaching its lowest level since Q1 2025. Among Saudi nationals, the jobless rate fell by 0.8 percentage points to 6.4%, while unemployment among non-Saudis rose to 1.5%.

By gender, female unemployment eased to 7.2% from 8.2% in Q4 2025, and the male unemployment rate decreased to 2.2% from 2.5%. At the same time, the labor force participation rate edged down slightly to 67.2% from 67.4%, whereas the employment-to-population ratio inched up to 65.1% from 65.0%.

Survey data indicated that 95.8% of unemployed individuals were willing to accept positions in the private sector. There was also notable flexibility in work arrangements: 60.4% of unemployed women and 45.3% of unemployed men said they were willing to commute for an hour or more. Regarding working hours, 68.2% of unemployed Saudi women were prepared to work at least eight hours per day, compared with 82.8% of unemployed Saudi men.