Work permits issued by occupation category (Saudi Arabia, 2005-2011)

Occupation group of labour permit’ holder				year
Occupation group of labour permit’ holder	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Managers and Business Managers	2,734	2,696	3,074	2,805	2,195	2,571	2,917
Specialists in Scientific, Technical and Humanities Fields	126,026	141,212	165,374	202,815	193,168	220,620	246,072
Technicians in Scientific, Technical and Humanities Fields	128,777	149,232	181,873	215,444	210,863	227,939	274,137
Clerical Workers	3,015	2,839	3,035	3,516	2,782	2,787	2,824
Sales Persons	87,332	86,441	84,097	89,070	64,240	60,404	76,451
Service Persons	976,412	1,052,607	1,107,318	1,227,295	1,097,139	1,097,820	1,321,468
Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fishing	173,927	117,042	182,101	320,285	89,161	85,516	101,872
Industrial, Chemical and Food Industries	98,731	107,942	122,535	136,856	128,052	121,719	146,705
Engineering Support	762,347	881,072	1,113,632	1,400,231	1,435,208	1,526,254	1,915,647
*TOTAL*	*2,359,301*	*2,541,083*	*2,963,039*	*3,598,317*	*3,222,808*	*3,345,630*	*4,088,093*

Source: Ministry of Labour

1. Definitions

Classification used for occupations is adapted from ISCO 1988.

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

In 2012′ Yearbook, work permits’ data are not presented in detailed table format.

Date of access: December 2013.