Saudi Arabia: Work permits granted by economic activity sector (2012)

Economic activity sector of permit holder	Work permits
Agriculture, Forests, Hunting and Fishing	156,353
Mines, Oil, Gas and Quarries	14,974
Manufacturing industries	475,173
Electricity, Gas and Water	8,534
Construction	2,696,389
Retails and Hotels	806,523
Transports and Storage	169,495
Finance, Insurance, Real estate services and Businesses	67,972
Collective, Social, and Personal services	415,682
Non stated
Total	4,811,095

Source: Ministry of Labour
1. Definitions

Classification used for economic activity is adapted from ISIC 3.1

2. Data collection methodology

The issuance of the residency and work permits begins with filing an application with the Ministry of Labor.
After its approval, the Ministry of Labor forwards the application to the Ministry of Interior for the issuance of the residency permit.

3. Institution which provides data

Ministry of Labour

4. Data availability

Published in Ministry of Labour’s Statistical Yearbooks
MoL Yearbooks (in Arabic) are available online at http://portal.mol.gov.sa/ar/Statistics/Pages/default.aspx (all issues since 2004)
2012’s Yearbook:
http://portal.mol.gov.sa/ar/Statistics/Documents/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%86%D9%88%D9%8A%20%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85%202012%D9%85%20.pdf

Last date of access: July 2015.