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.