Saudi Arabia: Work permits granted by economic activity sector (2013)
| Economic activity sector of permit holder | Work permits |
| Agriculture, Forests, Hunting and Fishing | 85,919 |
| Mines, Oil, Gas and Quarries | 22,318 |
| Manufacturing industries | 671,155 |
| Electricity, Gas and Water | 11,787 |
| Construction | 3,784,677 |
| Retails and Hotels | 1,397,951 |
| Transports and Storage | 239,054 |
| Finance, Insurance, Real estate services and Businesses | 109,538 |
| Collective, Social, and Personal services | 550,377 |
| Non stated | 2,023 |
| Total | 6,874,799 |
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)
2013’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%202013.pdf
Last date of access: July 2015.