Saudi Arabia: Public sector employees by nationality (Saudi / Non-Saudi) and sex (1970-2017)

Saudis Non-Saudis Total
Males Females Total Males Females Total Males Females Total
1970 — — 97,002 — — 20,276 — — 117,278
1971 — — 110,453 — — 23,629 — — 134,082
1972 — — 120,765 — — 28,288 — — 149,053
1973 — — 127,658 — — 31,106 — — 158,764
1974 — — 131,667 — — 34,748 — — 166,415
1975 — — 142,341 — — 42,400 — — 184,741
1976 — — 140,807 — — 47,055 — — 187,862
1977 — — 148,062 — — 50,976 — — 199,038
1978 — — 154,789 — — 57,252 — — 212,041
1979 — — 165,056 — — 64,182 — — 229,238
1980 — — 183,501 — — 69,397 — — 252,898
1981 — — 195,604 — — 72,867 — — 268,471
1982 — — 247,978 — — 86,243 — — 334,221
1983 — — 258,124 — — 106,124 — — 364,248
1984 — — 274,459 — — 121,331 — — 395,790
1985 — — 299,738 — — 129,281 — — 429,019
1986 — — 316,629 — — 140,494 — — 457,123
1987 — — 336,456 — — 144,523 — — 480,979
1988 — — 356,307 — — 147,552 — — 503,859
1989 — — 369,093 — — 150,116 — — 519,209
1990 — — 386,760 — — 147,938 — — 534,698
1991 — — 396,891 — — 151,658 — — 548,549
1992 — — 420,653 — — 159,612 — — 580,265
1993 — — 444,364 — — 144,934 — — 589,298
1994 — — 460,845 — — 133,014 — — 593,859
1995 — — 480,313 — — 128,698 — — 609,011
1996 — — 506,577 — — 109,714 — — 616,291
1997 379,025 181,653 560,678 51,827 44,151 95,978 430,852 225,804 656,656
1998 383,996 195,419 579,415 49,736 39,272 89,008 433,732 234,691 668,423
1999 387,779 203,879 591,658 46,956 35,940 82,896 434,735 239,819 674,554
2000 408,640 204,682 613,322 45,776 35,672 81,448 454,416 240,354 694,770
2001 416,803 214,221 631,024 45,644 34,191 79,835 462,447 248,412 710,859
2002 438,023 214,912 652,935 43,400 31,653 75,053 481,423 246,565 727,988
2003 452,555 224,965 677,520 41,698 27,748 69,446 494,253 252,713 746,966
2004 463,487 231,007 694,494 41,342 27,429 68,771 504,829 258,436 763,265
2005 472,727 240,108 712,835 41,436 29,005 70,441 514,163 269,113 783,276
2006 490,109 243,757 733,866 39,779 30,018 69,797 529,888 273,775 803,663
2007 508,006 252,989 760,995 36,851 32,139 68,990 544,857 285,128 829,985
2008 552,718 275,128 827,846 35,807 36,058 71,865 588,525 311,186 899,711
2009 583,989 282,785 866,774 36,202 38,924 75,126 620,191 321,709 941,900
2010 589,627 295,088 884,715 33,677 41,441 75,118 623,304 336,529 959,833
2011 616,748 302,360 919,108 37,128 41,902 79,030 653,876 344,262 998,138
2012 643,212 369,840 1,013,052 36,663 39,786 76,449 679,875 409,626 1,089,501
2013 718,383 432,445 1,150,828 36,203 37,790 73,993 754,586 470,235 1,224,821
2014 717,629 450,957 1,168,586 36,125 36,037 72,162 753,754 486,994 1,240,748
2015 709,256 468,777 1,178,033 35,064 34,961 70,025 744,320 503,738 1,248,058
2016 703,671 474,153 1,177,824 33,895 33,092 66,987 737,566 507,245 1,244,811
2017 697,123 476,347 1,173,470 29,618 30,768 60,386 726,741 507,115 1,233,856

source: Ministry of Civil Service
 
ANNEXED NOTE

1. Technical Notes and Definitions

The statistics include men and women working under the following salary scales:
Scales of general public employment,  health professions, education and teaching, lecturers and teaching assistants, judges,
investigation staff and public prosecutors, and other wage-earners.

Data do not include employees in the security and military sectors.

2. Institution which provides data 

Ministry of Civil Service.

3. Data availability 

The Ministry of Civil Service publishes Annual Yearbooks, available online since 2010 (in Arabic, PDF format):
https://www.mcs.gov.sa/Ministry/Statistics/Pages/books.aspx
The present data is taken from the Saudi Arabial Monetary Authority (SAMA) Annual Statistics (“miscellaneous statistics” section) (Excel format)
http://www.sama.gov.sa/en-US/EconomicReports/Pages/YearlyStatistics.aspx

Last date of access: July 2018.