Saudi Arabia: Number of allied health professionals by nationality (Saudi/ non-Saudi) and sector of employment (2017-2024)

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Ministry of Health
 Saudis 55,471 65,515 67,949 68,859 70,937 76,963 83,652 95,862
Non-Saudis 4,175 4,015 3,335 2,979 2,748 2,674 2,613 2,463
Total 59,646 69,530 71,284 71,838 73,685 79,637 86,265 98,325
Other Government Sector
 Saudis 22,147 23,628 19,616 20,549 20,965 20,389 24,890 32,890
Non-Saudis 8,067 7,229 6,416 6,492 5,654 4,123 4,419 3,539
Total 30,214 30,857 26,032 27,041 26,619 24,512 29,309 36,429
Private Sector
 Saudis 5,940 7,800 8,575 10,364 14,838 17,875 21,072 65,624
Non-Saudis 16,061 16,125 17,728 14,730 15,861 16,338 17,042 21,682
Total 22,001 23,925 26,303 25,094 30,699 34,213 38,114 87,306
Total
 Saudis 83,558 96,943 96,140 99,772 106,740 115,227 129,614 194,376
Non-Saudis 28,303 27,369 27,479 24,201 24,263 23,135 24,074 27,684
Total 111,861 124,312 123,619 123,973 131,003 138,362 153,688 222,060

Source: Ministry of Health, Statistical Yearbooks, given years

1. Characteristics of data

These data are employment counts of health personnel working in various sectors (MoH, other governmental, private) as recorded in administrative workforce data.
Data on healthcare establishments and workforce are based on administrative records from multiple official sources, including:
Ministry of Health (MoH); Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS- the official regulatory/licensing body responsible for accrediting
and licensing health professionals to practice in Saudi Arabia); Other governmental entities (e.g., Ministry of Defense, National Guard, Ministry of Interior).

In Saudi Arabia, the regulatory framework recognizes a broad group of health practitioners (excluding physicians, dentists and nurses) as allied health professionals,
such as technicians and clinical specialists who provide services in areas like laboratory science, imaging, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, nutrition, and other applied health sciences.
These practitioners are licensed and classified by SCFHS to practice in the Kingdom.

2. Institution which provides data 

Ministry of Health
https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/pages/default.aspx

3. Data availability 

MoH’s Annual Statistical Yearbooks are available in the Ministry’s website Open Data Portal, in PDF and Excel formats
https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/Ministry/OpenData/Pages/default.aspx
Open Data Library:
https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/ministry/opendata/pages/open-data-library.aspx

Annual Statistical Yearbooks:
https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/ministry/statistics/book/pages/default.aspx
https://www.moh.gov.sa/ministry/statistics/book/pages/default.aspx

Data on health personnels are published in the “Health Resources” chapter

A processing of the Ministry of Health data is published annually by GAStat since 2023:
(“social statistics”, then “Health Statistics”, then “Healthcare Establishments and Workforce Statistics”)
https://www.stats.gov.sa/en/statistics-tabs?tab=436312&category=2968800

Last date of access: 26 January 2026.

Keywords: Employment, Saudi Arabia, National & Foreign Labour, Highly-Skilled Labour

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