GCC: Labour Force Participation Rates by nationality (national/non-national) and sex in GCC countries (%) (2013-2022)

      2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Bahrain nationals males 64.0 64.1 63.4 63.2 63.2 63.2 63.2 63.2 n.a. n.a.
females 32.2 32.3 32.3 32.2 32.2 32.2 32.2 32.2 n.a. n.a.
non-nationals males 98.1 97.6 97.9 97.8 97.8 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
females 58.7 57.2 58.2 58.2 58.2 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Kuwait nationals males 56.3 54.2 52.6 47.7 47.7 n.a. n.a. n.a. 47.7 n.a.
females 40.3 37.6 39.3 30.8 30.8 n.a. n.a. n.a. 45.0 n.a.
non-nationals males 84.8 94.2 95.3 95.5 95.5 n.a. n.a. n.a. 91.9 n.a.
females 58.6 61.3 65.8 65.5 65.5 n.a. n.a. n.a. 63.5 n.a.
Oman nationals males n.a. n.a. n.a. 39.3 39.3 39.2 40.7 40.7 n.a. n.a.
females n.a. n.a. n.a. 21.7 22.4 21.7 23.7 23.7 n.a. n.a.
non-nationals males n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
females n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Qatar nationals males 70.0 68.9 68.6 68.5 68.2 68.1 67.9 66.4 66.7 66.1
females 34.7 35.0 36.1 36.9 36.7 37.1 37.6 37.0 42.0 42.9
non-nationals males 97.9 97.8 97.8 98.0 97.6 97.6 97.5 97.5 97.2 97.1
females 59.0 59.4 64.9 64.6 64.5 64.2 63.7 64.3 64.2 66.4
Saudi Arabia nationals males 64.6 64.9 63.3 64.6 63.4 63.0 66.6 68.5 66.8 68.5
females 16.4 17.6 17.4 19.0 19.4 20.2 26.0 33.2 35.6 36.0
non-nationals males 94.2 93.4 93.7 93.3 94.2 93.8 93.6 92.4 92.0 93.2
females 31.2 28.7 33.1 22.8 24.2 25.9 28.8 29.3 33.3 31.1
UAE nationals males n.a. n.a. n.a. 64.1 62.9 60.4 62.2 62.2 n.a. n.a.
females n.a. n.a. n.a. 30.9 32.4 32.3 33.2 33.2 n.a. n.a.
non-nationals males n.a. n.a. n.a. 95.0 94.6 95.1 94.2 n.a. n.a. n.a.
females n.a. n.a. n.a. 54.3 55.9 55.9 61.1 n.a. n.a. n.a.

Sources: GCC-Stat Center and national institutes of statistics    

               

1- Definitions and remarks:

Labour Force Participation Rates (LFPR) refer to the percentage of active (employed or unemployed) population aged 15 and above in the category (sex and nationality).       

Ex.: 22.8% of foreign women aged 15 and above in Saudi Arabia are economically active in 2016 (i.e.: employed or unemployed).

 

2- Sources of data:

Data published by the GCC Stat Center are supplied by individual countries and republished without adjustment.

Figures are the same in GCC-Stat and national publications, unless stated otherwise.

 

NATIONALS:

  • Until 2020:

GCC Stat. Labour Statistics in GCC Countries, issues of 2017; 2019; 2020.

https://gccstat.org/en/statistic/publications/labor-statistics

https://www.gccstat.org/ar/statistic/publications/labor-statistics

 

  • 2021-2022:

National sources.           

 

Bahrain

No data on participation rates available from Information and eGovernment Authority (IGA) and from Bahrain Open Data portal.

Bahrain census 2020 data do not match data for Bahrain as reproduced in GCC-Stat Labour Statistics publication (in table).  

Bahraini males’ LFPR: 59.6 percent

Bahraini females’ LFPR: 42.7 percent

Source: census 2020

https://www.data.gov.bh/explore/dataset/population-15-years-and-above-by-labour-force-participation-nationality-and-sex-/

 

Kuwait 

2018-2020; 2022: no data

2021: census data

https://census.csb.gov.kw/CensusData_EN?CatID=5

 

Oman   

No data on participation rates available from NCSI, Oman’s NSO.

Oman Census 2020 data do not match data for Oman as reproduced in GCC-Stat Labour Statistics publication (in table).

Omani males’ LFPR: 70.6 percent

Omani females’ LFPR: 52.6 percent

Source: census 2020

https://portal.ecensus.gov.om/ecen-portal/?lang=en

 

Qatar    

PSA. Annual Bulletin of Labour Force Sample Survey 2022

https://www.psa.gov.qa/en/statistics1/pages/topicslisting.aspx?parent=Social&child=LaborForce

Saudi Arabia     

GAStat. Labour Market Statistics, Q4 2022

https://www.stats.gov.sa/en/814

Data from GCC-Stat and GAStat are for Q4 of every given year.

 

UAE       

FCSC. Labour Force Survey results, given years

https://fcsc.gov.ae/en-us/Pages/Statistics/Statistics-by-Subject.aspx#/%3Fsubject=Demography%20and%20Social&folder=Demography%20and%20Social/Labour%20Force/Labor%20Force

2010- 2016: no data

2021-2022: no data disaggregated by nationality in national statistics.

 

NON-NATIONALS:          

  • Until 2017:

GCC Stat. Labour Statistics in GCC Countries 2019

https://gccstat.org/en/statistic/publications/labor-statistics

https://www.gccstat.org/ar/statistic/publications/labor-statistics

  • 2017-2020: GCC-Stat publications provide figures for nationals only.
  • 2017-2022:

National sources.           

 

Bahrain

No data on participation rates from Information and eGovernment Authority (IGA) and from Bahrain Open Data portal.

 

Census 2020:

Non-Bahraini males’ economic participation rate: 97.4 percent

Non-Bahraini females’ economic participation rate: 58.6 percent

Source: census 2020

https://www.data.gov.bh/explore/dataset/population-15-years-and-above-by-labour-force-participation-nationality-and-sex-/

 

Kuwait 

2018-2020; 2022: no data

2021: census data

https://census.csb.gov.kw/CensusData_EN?CatID=5

 

Oman   

No data on participation rates available from NCSI, Oman’s NSO.

Unemployment benefit not accessible to non-nationals; no data available on unemployment among non-nationals.

Estimate below is based on inactivity rates calculated from census 2020’s results:

Non-Omani males’ LFPR: 95.5 percent

Non-Omani females’ LFPR: 66.4 percent

Source: census 2020

https://portal.ecensus.gov.om/ecen-portal/?lang=en

 

Qatar    

PSA. Annual Bulletin of Labour Force Sample Survey 2022

https://www.psa.gov.qa/en/statistics1/pages/topicslisting.aspx?parent=Social&child=LaborForce

Saudi Arabia     

GAStat. Labour Market Statistics, Q4 2022

https://www.stats.gov.sa/en/814

Data from GCC-Stat and GAStat are for Q4 of every given year.

 

UAE       

2010- 2016: no data

2017-2019:

FCSC. Labour Force Survey results, given years

https://fcsc.gov.ae/en-us/Pages/Statistics/Statistics-by-Subject.aspx#/%3Fsubject=Demography%20and%20Social&folder=Demography%20and%20Social/Labour%20Force/Labor%20Force

2020-2022: no data disaggregated by nationality.

 

Keywords: Gulf Cooperation Council, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, National & Foreign Labour, National Labour, Foreign Labour, Female Employment

 

Last accessed: January 2024.     

 

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