Women in the workforce
From 17% to 36% in eight years
Thriving Economy pillar3 sourcesLast verified 2026-05-16
Hero metric
Saudi female labor force participation
36.3%
Q1 2025Doubled in eight years. Increase of 19 percentage points exceeds the pace of female workforce integration in any major economy in modern history.
Publishers include: GASTAT · AGSI
Trend over time · 10 data points
2017 → Q1 2025
Hover any point for the period, value, and primary publisher.
The Story
Before
In 2017, only 17% of Saudi women were in the workforce — one of the lowest rates globally. Most women who wanted to work faced overlapping barriers: driving restrictions, guardianship requirements, sector limits, and few childcare options.
Initiative
Driving rights (2018), guardianship reform, anti-harassment legislation, childcare mandates for larger employers, sector openings across retail, hospitality, finance, law, engineering, and technology. Wusool subsidized commuting; Qurrah subsidized childcare.
Outcome
By Q1 2025, Saudi female labor force participation reached 36.3% — more than double the 2017 baseline and well past the original V2030 target of 30%. Saudi female employment grew about 11% (160,000 women) in the past two years alone.
For citizens
Saudi women now work across virtually every sector. Average female wages rose 17% in two years — nearly twice the rate of Saudi men. Two-earner households are now the norm in cities, and daughters grow up seeing a wider universe of futures open to them.
Supporting metrics
Female employment rate
31%
2025 (+4.2pp over 5 years)
Female unemployment
10.3%
Q4 2025 (down from 11.9% YoY)
New Saudi female jobs (past 2 years)
≈160,000
2023–2025
Avg. female wage increase
+17%
past 2 years (≈2x male rate)
Saudi women in formal workforce — absolute count
~600K → ~4M
2017 baseline to Q1 2025
Female participation, ages 25-34
~50%
Q1 2025 (close to OECD median for that cohort)
Saudi female wage vs male peers
85-90%
GASTAT 2024 disaggregations (closer to OECD avg gap than pre-2017)
Female median monthly wage (25-54 cohort)
SAR 8,300
Q1 2025
Timeline of Milestones
2017
Baseline: 17% female labor force participation
2018
Driving rights granted; anti-harassment law enacted
2020
Rate doubles to ~33% — V2030 target hit 10 years early
2025
Q1 rate at 36.3%; female employment rate 31%, +4.2pp over 5 years
Evidence library · 3 primary sources
Sorted by tier, newest first
Saudi unemployment rate
Halved since Vision 2030 began — from 12.3% to 7.2%
7.2%
Saudi careers in 269 professions
Next phase: 340,000 more jobs localized by 2028
340,000
Direct cash support to 10 million Saudis
SAR 229 billion delivered to families since 2017
10M+
70% of Aramco's supply chain — Made in Saudi
$280 billion to the economy, 200,000 jobs, 47 strategic products manufactured locally for the first time
70%
Initiative attribution: Driving rights, guardianship reform, Wusool (transport), Qurrah (childcare), anti-harassment law. Citizen benefit category: Women's economic empowerment.