Saudi Arabia: Employed population by nationality (Saudi / non-Saudi) and sex, 1999-2016 (Q3)

Saudis Non-Saudis Total
Males Females Total Males Females Total Males Females Total
1999_Half1 2,247,720 347,370 2,595,090 2,552,901 444,863 2,997,764 4,800,621 792,233 5,592,854
2000_Half1 2,352,092 351,279 2,703,371 2,591,426 418,548 3,009,974 4,943,518 769,827 5,713,345
2001_Half1 2,413,780 363,193 2,776,973 2,613,943 417,699 3,031,642 5,027,723 780,892 5,808,615
2002_Half1 2,480,225 364,366 2,844,591 2,635,599 432,817 3,068,416 5,115,824 797,183 5,913,007
2003 2,594,493 396,844 2,991,337 2,857,748 466,417 3,324,165 5,452,240 863,262 6,315,502
2004 2,708,760 429,323 3,138,083 3,079,897 500,018 3,579,914 5,788,657 929,340 6,717,997
2005 2,823,028 461,801 3,284,828 3,302,045 533,618 3,835,663 6,125,073 995,419 7,120,491
2006_Half1 2,937,295 494,279 3,431,574 3,524,194 567,218 4,091,412 6,461,489 1,061,497 7,522,986
2007_Half1 3,082,301 502,456 3,584,757 3,581,716 599,868 4,181,584 6,664,017 1,102,324 7,766,341
2007_Half2 3,096,972 503,879 3,600,851 3,598,598 545,002 4,143,600 6,695,570 1,048,881 7,744,451
2008_Half1 3,185,417 493,183 3,678,600 3,651,823 626,409 4,278,232 6,837,240 1,119,592 7,956,832
2008_Half2 3,274,356 482,313 3,756,669 3,677,482 583,149 4,260,631 6,951,838 1,065,462 8,017,300
2009_Half2 3,332,628 505,340 3,837,968 3,736,810 573,214 4,310,024 7,069,438 1,078,554 8,147,992
2010 3,411,801 543,406 3,955,207 4,258,619 621,046 4,879,665 7,670,420 1,164,452 8,834,872
2011_Half2 3,538,669 604,402 4,143,071 5,094,771 697,692 5,792,463 8,633,440 1,302,094 9,935,534
2012_Half1 3,632,143 619,580 4,251,723 5,186,605 698,065 5,884,670 8,818,748 1,317,645 10,136,393
2012_Half2 3,750,781 646,590 4,397,371 5,310,039 682,914 5,992,953 9,060,820 1,329,504 10,390,324
2013_Half1 3,951,255 679,862 4,631,117 5,362,127 641,489 6,003,616 9,313,382 1,321,351 10,634,733
2013_Half2 3,989,632 727,495 4,717,127 5,342,675 669,321 6,011,996 9,332,307 1,396,816 10,729,123
2014_Half1 4,092,494 796,220 4,888,714 5,383,884 627,791 6,011,675 9,476,378 1,424,011 10,900,389
2014_Half2 4,120,467 805,717 4,926,184 5,496,822 644,667 6,141,489 9,617,289 1,450,384 11,067,673
2015_Half1 4,133,251 811,458 4,944,709 5,622,863 662,293 6,285,156 9,756,114 1,473,751 11,229,865
2015_Half2 4,159,744 816,361 4,976,105 5,735,735 772,816 6,508,551 9,895,479 1,589,177 11,484,656
2016_Q2 4,172,988 830,630 5,003,618 5,865,521 816,976 6,682,497 10,038,509 1,647,606 11,686,115
2016_Q3 4,185,853 835,726 5,021,579 6,708,562 646,558 7,355,120 10,894,415 1,482,284 12,376,699

source: Labour Force Surveys (1999 to 2002; 2006 to 2009; 2011 to 2016 (Q3); population censuses 2004 and 2010
 
ANNEXED NOTE
 
1. Technical Notes and Definitions

sampling  sample size
frame (households) reference period
1999 Population 15,000 April 16th-May 16th, 1999
2000 Census 15,000 April  2000
2001 1992 15,000 March 2001
2002 15,000 April 2002
2006 Population Census 2004 23,000 May  2006
2007  R1 23,000 February 19th-March 20th, 2007
2007  R2 23,000 August 15th-September 13th, 2007
2008  R1 23,000 February 2008
2008  R2 23,000 August 2008
2009 23,000 July 24th-August 22nd, 2009
2011 Population Census 2010 29,000 October 2011
2012  R1 29,000 January 25th-February 17th, 2012
2012  R2
2013  R1 33,500  January 13th-February 5th, 2013
2014 R1 33,500 January 2014
2014 R2 33,500 August 2014
2015 R1 33,500 May 2015
2015 R2 33,500 November 2015
2016 Q2 33,325 May 2016
2016 Q3 33,325 August 2016

Population of reference: all individuals (nationals and non-nationals)  residing in the Kingdom during the period of reference.
The ultimate sampling unit is the household.

(a) Household and household members: A person or group of persons, related or not related, who share housing and food.
Servants, drivers and similar categories are considered to be part of the household if they live in the same housing unit.

(b) Employed person: A person aged 15 years and above who worked during the reference week for at least one hour for pay or profit, or who had a job but were temporarily absent from work.
Employment refers to people who during the reference period:
– worked for one hour or more for wage or salary, in cash or in kind
– worked for one hour or more for profit or family gain, in cash or in kind
– worked for at least 15 hours without pay on a family business or farm
– did volunteer work
Reference period for employment: The seven days preceding the interview date.

Data collected during Labor Force Surveys include all employed persons, including those employed in the security and military sector .
Since Q3 2016, instead of survey results, the Labour Force Surveys’ publications display administrative data: the records of Saudi and foreign labourers covered by social security schemes
(GOSI and MCS, respectively for the private and the governmental sectors), and Ministry of Labour’s records of domestic labourers.
Administrative data used to describe the labour market after Q3 2016 differ significantly from survey data, since administrative records publications do not incorporate employees
. in the security and military sectors and employed persons non-registered in the records of GOSI and MCS
This is the reason why the time series is interrupted in 2016.

2. Institution which provides data 

General Authority for Statistics (GAStat).

3. Data availability 

Surveys conducted since 1999 are available on the website of GAStat, in Excel and PDF formats:
https://www.stats.gov.sa/en/814

Date of access: October 2018.