Saudi Arabia flag Saudi Arabia: Operating a Business in Saudi Arabia

Work conditions in Saudi Arabia

The Active Population in Figures

	2018	2019	2020
Labour Force	14,020,758	14,387,604	14,455,587

Source: International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database

Source: International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database

Employed Persons, by Occupation (% of Total Labour Force)	2014
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security	16.1%
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	14.5%
Construction	12.8%
Education	11.8%
Manufacturing	7.2%
Human health and social work activities	5.5%
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	5.3%
Transportation and storage	3.5%
Accommodation and food service activities	3.4%
Administrative and support service activities	1.7%
Professional, scientific and technical activities	1.4%
Mining and quarrying	1.4%
Financial and insurance activities	1.3%
Information and communication	1.2%
Real estate activities	1.1%
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply	1.0%
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities	0.7%
Arts, entertainment and recreation	0.2%

For Further Statistics: Ministry of Economy and Planning
For Further Information About the Labour Market: ILO, International Labour Organisation

Legal Weekly Duration: 8 hours a day or 48 hours a week. The number of working hours may be raised to 9 hours a day where the workman does not work continuously, such as seasonal establishments, hotel, snack bars, restaurants, etc.
Retirement Age: 60 years for men and 55 years for women.
Working Contracts: Broadly there are two types of contracts: Permanent and Fixed-term.

Majority of the contacts for foreigners in the labour sector are of fixed-term, while as for the locals these are of permanent type. As of April 2017, following a decision made by the Ministry of Labour, foreigners are excluded from working under any contract at malls in Saudi Arabia.

The number of 'temporary contracts' is very low.
Labour Laws: Consult Doing Business Website, to obtain a summary of the labor regulations that apply to local entreprises.

Minimum Wage: SAR 4,000 - Private firms are required to pay citizens a minimum of SAR 4,000/month to count nationals for Nitaqat Saudization program purposes. However, they are neither statutorily required nor are they obliged by Nitaqat program regulations.
Average Wage: SAR 10,186 for the Saudi, SAR 4,023 for the Non Saudi (GaStat, Q4 2021)
Social Contributions: Social Security Contributions Paid By Employers: Employers contribute 9% of monthly covered payroll (monthly earnings considered are min SAR 1,500 and max SAR 45,000) to GOSI and 2% salary of all employees for work injury. From 1 Sep 2014, an additional 1% unemployment insurance contribution is required.
Social Security Contributions Paid By Employees: Saudi employees contribute 9% of gross monthly covered earnings, within the maximum limit of SAR 45,000. From 1 Sep 2014, an additional 1% unemployment insurance contribution is required.
Self-employed Saudi residents contribute 18% of monthly covered declared earnings (monthly earnings considered are min SAR 1,200 and max SAR 45,000). Unemployment insurance contribution is not applicable to self-employed individuals.

Social Dialogue and Involvement of Social Partners: The labour law does not provide for collective bargaining. However, the companies that employ more than 100 Saudis are allowed to form "labour committees." Currently, there are 15 labour committees registered in the Kingdom.
Labour Unions
Labour Regulation Bodies: Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development

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