Saudi unemployment rate
Halved since Vision 2030 began — from 12.3% to 7.2%
Thriving Economy pillar3 sourcesLast verified 2026-05-16
Hero metric
Saudi unemployment rate
7.2%
Q4 2025Down from 12.3% (2017) → 7.2% (Q4 2025). Original V2030 target of 7% met; goalposts moved to 5%.
Publishers include: GASTAT · Arab News · Saudi Gazette
Trend over time · 13 data points
2017 → Q4 2025
Hover any point for the period, value, and primary publisher.
The Story
Before
In 2017, roughly one in eight working-age Saudis looking for a job couldn't find one. For many young families, joblessness was the single most pressing daily concern.
Initiative
Saudization programs (Nitaqat tiers), Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) wage subsidies, the Doroob training platform, and a wave of new private-sector openings from giga-projects, tourism, entertainment and finance.
Outcome
By Q4 2025, Saudi unemployment had fallen to 7.2% — meeting the original Vision 2030 target several years early. The Kingdom has now set a more ambitious 5% goal for 2030.
For citizens
Fewer Saudis spend years searching for that first job. The benchmark for 'what good looks like' has shifted from 'any job' to 'a meaningful, well-paid career.' Job-search is now measured in months, not years.
Supporting metrics
Saudi male unemployment
5.4%
Q4 2025
Saudi female unemployment
10.3%
Q4 2025 (down 1.6pp YoY)
Total population unemployment (incl. residents)
3.5%
Q4 2025
Total labor force participation
67.4%
Q4 2025 (highest in modern history)
Saudi youth (15-24) unemployment
~13-15%
recent quarters (still the gap to close)
Saudi unemployment (25-54 cohort)
5.4%
Q1 2025 (the core working-age figure)
Pandemic peak — Saudi unemployment spike
~15%
mid-2020 (recovered to trend by late 2021)
Q1 2025 historic low
6.3%
lowest sustained Saudi unemployment reading ever recorded
Revised 2030 target
5%
set after the original 7% target was hit early
Timeline of Milestones
2017
Saudi unemployment at 12.3%, V2030 launched
2020
Pandemic shock; reforms accelerate (driving rights, sector openings)
2024· milestone
Q4 2024: rate hits 7.0% — original target met early
2026
Q4 2025 rate published at 7.2%; revised target of 5% by 2030 confirmed
Evidence library · 3 primary sources
Sorted by tier, newest first
Background sources · 6 additional
From the editorial source repository
Show 6 more sources
National Transformation Program Annual Report 2024
Saudi Vision 2030
Unemployment rate for total population decreases to 3.5% in Q4 2024
GASTAT
Unemployment Rate for Total Population in Saudi Arabia Drops in Q4 2024
Saudi Press Agency
Saudi Arabia revises unemployment target to 5% as IMF praises progress
Saudi Gazette
Saudi unemployment hits historic low of 7% in Q4 2024
Saudi Gazette
Unemployment among Saudi citizens falls to 7.1% in Q2
Reuters
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%
Saudi women added to the formal workforce
From ~600,000 in 2017 to ~4 million today — a sixfold absolute rise
~3.4M
Also relevant for
Initiative attribution: Saudization (Nitaqat), HRDF, Doroob, giga-project hiring. Citizen benefit category: Jobs & livelihoods.