GCC: Population employed in the private sector and percentage of non-nationals in the sector in GCC countries (2015-2024)

Bahrain Kuwait Oman Qatar
Arabie Saoudite
 UAE
Total pop. employed in private sector Non-nationals employed in private sector % non-nationals in private sector Total pop. employed in private sector Non-nationals employed in private sector % non-nationals in private sector Total pop. employed in private sector Non-nationals employed in private sector % non-nationals in private sector Total labour force in private sector Non-nationals in private sector % non-nationals in private sector Total pop. employed in private sector Non-nationals employed in private sector % non-nationals in private sector Total pop. employed in private sector
2015 546,572 445,374 81.5 1,480,249 1,410,010 95.3 1,583,462 1,373,842 86.8 1,511,627 1,499,956 99.2 10,140,936 8,416,681 83.0 NA
2016 611,229 509,062 83.3 1,580,347 1,509,087 95.5 1,728,019 1,504,936 87.1 1,602,630 1,592,577 99.4 10,168,137 8,492,965 83.5 NA
2017 599,714 495,912 82.7 1,638,020 1,566,782 95.7 1,741,496 1,502,808 86.3 1,606,550 1,596,340 99.4 9,701,960 7,928,287 81.7 NA
2018 608,220 503,006 82.7 1,698,528 1,625,589 95.7 1,687,285 1,435,153 85.1 1,652,818 1,642,498 99.4 8,599,487 6,895,514 80.2 NA
2019 605,824 498,999 82.4 1,714,063 1,640,830 95.7 1,626,288 1,363,955 83.9 1,661,807 1,651,951 99.4 8,138,590 6,437,886 79.1 NA
2020 564,641 460,022 81.5 1,567,114 1,494,133 95.3 1,468,057 1,115,322 76.0 1,710,948 1,702,251 99.5 8,026,901 6,280,145 78.2 NA
2021 507,978 411,129 80.9 1,434,824 1,362,602 95.0 1,482,180 1,107,574 74.7 1,593,673 1,584,118 99.4 8,084,253 6,174,178 76.4 NA
2022 560,037 459,986 82.1 1,572,384 1,500,551 95.4 1,742,955 1,359,776 78.0 1,675,213 1,665,285 99.4 9,422,233 7,227,688 76.7 NA
2023 560,290 458,768 81.9 1,656,955 1,584,125 95.6 1,853,973 1,454,170 78.4 1,721,695 1,710,971 99.4 10,292,270 7,991,679 77.6 NA
2024 NA NA NA 1,739,735 1,665,994 95.8 1,837,840 1,433,124 78.0 1,775,873 1,765,650 99.4 11,837,519 9,429,359 79.7 NA

Sources: national institutes of statistics and relevant national institutions

1- Definitions and remarks:
Non-nationals are:
1- persons bearing nationality of a foreign State other than the GCC State of residence, or bearing
no proof of nationality from any given state
(stateless persons and holders of refugee status and travel document in a third country);
2- Holders of residence permit residing in the given GCC country at date of census, as per definition
of residence used in each of the countries.

Unless stated otherwise (if specific categories of workers are excluded from statistics, for instance),
employment refers to: all persons of working age (15 and above), who during a reference period
worked to produce goods or provide services for pay (cash or kind) or worked for profit from their
own (or partially owned) business or worked without pay in the family business or with other
individuals. It also includes those who have a temporary absence from a job during the reference
period due to vacation or illness or any other reason.

Figures refer to workers employed in the private sector.
Reference period: end of year
Q4 of quarterly data published for Bahrain (until 2020), Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
Annual data published for Oman, Qatar, UAE, and Bahrain (2021- ).

Bahrain (until 2020):
Labour Market Regulation Authority (LMRA). Bahrain Labour Market Indicators (BLMI), Q4 2022,
https://blmi.lmra.gov.bh/2022/12/mi_dashboard.xml
Employment data include all civilian employed persons in the private and public sectors (insured, uninsured and self-employed) and domestic workers.
Since Q1 2010, LMRA has been using data from LMRA Expat management System (EMS) to produce the total number of foreign worker employment in public and private sectors.
These include data taken from the Social Insurance Organisation (SIO), Pension Fund Commission (PFC), and Civil Service Bureau (CSB) monthly data files to LMRA
Private Sector for Non-Bahraini workers refers to the sum of “Commercial” and “Non-Commercial, Non-Government” (NCNG) sectors of LMRA’s EMS system.
No data on employment by sector after Q2 2023 in LMRA statistics.

2021-2023 data: IGA, Labour Force 2021, 2022, 2023.
https://www.data.gov.bh/pages/homepage/
Data for the Labour Force publication is taken from SIO records, Bahrain’s official social insurance authority.
As of 20 April 2026, no data is available beyond 2023.

Kuwait: Central Statistical Bureau. Integrated Database – LMIS, Q4 data, 2015 to 2024.
https://lmis.csb.gov.kw/
Data are taken from administrative records. The Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) maintains statistics on workers in the private sector.

Oman: National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI). Statistical Yearbook 2025, Chapter “Employment”
https://www.ncsi.gov.om/publications
https://api.ncsi.gov.om/uploads/pdfs/publicationpdf1765273616.pdf
“Private sector” includes Private, Communal and Other Sectors.
2020 and after: employment data published in the Yearbooks is taken from National Registration system (includes insured and uninsured employees).

Qatar: National Planning Council (NPC), formerly Planning and Statistics Authority. Annual Bulletins of Labour Force Sample Surveys 2015 to 2023
https://www.npc.qa/en/statistics/pages/subjectdetails.aspx
Population of reference: labour force.
Labour Force Survey data are collected on a monthly basis, and based on field surveys.

Saudi Arabia: General Authority for Statistics (GAStat). Labour Market Statistics (2017-20222) and Register-based Labour Market Statistics (2023-2024), Q4 data.
2023-2025: available at:
https://www.stats.gov.sa/en/statistics-tabs/-/categories/417515?tab=436312&category=417515
Before 2023: available in the “archived data”:
https://www.stats.gov.sa/en/statistics?index=1317550
“social statistics”, and “labour force”
https://www.stats.gov.sa/en/statistics-tabs?tab=436312&category=1333429
2015-2016: Saudi Arabia Central Bank (SAMA). Yearly statistics
https://www.sama.gov.sa/en-US/EconomicReports/Pages/report.aspx?cid=127
The data is taken from the administrative records of subscribers to the General Organization of Social Insurance (GOSI).
Population of reference: workers employed in the private sector, registered with the GOSI.

UAE: No data available on total employed population by sector.

Last accessed: 20 April 2026
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Keywords: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Employment, Female Employment, Labour Market, National & Foreign Labour