Unemployment rate,Percent in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: Unemployment rate,Percent was 3.2% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Unemployment rate,Percent in Saudi Arabia, 1999–2025
Source: World Bank.
Analysis
The most recent figure for unemployment rate,percent in Saudi Arabia is 3.2%, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 27 years on record.
The figure is down 8.0% on the previous year and down 42.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, unemployment rate,percent in Saudi Arabia peaked at 7.6% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 3.2%, in 2025.
Saudi Arabia ranks 58th of 71 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 27 years of available data.
Unemployment rate,Percent in Saudi Arabia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 4.4% | — |
| 2000 | 4.6% | +5.1% |
| 2001 | 4.6% | +1.1% |
| 2002 | 5.3% | +14.0% |
| 2003 | 5.6% | +5.5% |
| 2004 | 5.8% | +4.6% |
| 2005 | 6.1% | +4.8% |
| 2006 | 6.3% | +3.3% |
| 2007 | 5.8% | -7.9% |
| 2008 | 5.2% | -10.3% |
| 2009 | 5.4% | +3.8% |
| 2010 | 5.5% | +1.8% |
| 2011 | 5.8% | +5.4% |
| 2012 | 5.5% | -5.2% |
| 2013 | 5.6% | +1.8% |
| 2014 | 5.7% | +1.8% |
| 2015 | 5.6% | -1.7% |
| 2016 | 5.6% | -0.0% |
| 2017 | 5.9% | +5.3% |
| 2018 | 6.0% | +1.6% |
| 2019 | 5.6% | -6.1% |
| 2020 | 7.6% | +35.7% |
| 2021 | 6.1% | -20.0% |
| 2022 | 4.9% | -20.4% |
| 2023 | 4.0% | -17.4% |
| 2024 | 3.5% | -12.2% |
| 2025 | 3.2% | -8.0% |
Saudi Arabia compared with similar countries
- Saudi Arabia's 3.2% is below the median for high income countries, which is 5.0%, 65% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
- Saudi Arabia's 3.2% is below the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 6.6%, 49% of the median. (10 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Unemployment rate,Percent in Saudi Arabia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +35.7% | 5.6% | 7.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 4.4% | 4.4% | 4.4% | 1 |
| 2000s | 5.5% | 4.6% | 6.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.7% | 5.5% | 6.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.9% | 3.2% | 7.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Saudi Arabia
More reference data data for Saudi Arabia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1847 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.4 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.44 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1771 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 2.44 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.6194 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.2207 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 6.07 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 10.64 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.9641 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is unemployment rate,percent in Saudi Arabia?
- Unemployment rate,percent in Saudi Arabia was 3.2% in 2025, according to the World Bank.
- What is the highest unemployment rate,percent recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The highest recorded value was 7.6% in 2020.
- What is the lowest unemployment rate,percent recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.2% in 2025.
- How does Saudi Arabia rank for unemployment rate,percent?
- Saudi Arabia ranks 58th out of 71 countries with data for 2025.
- Is unemployment rate,percent rising or falling in Saudi Arabia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 42.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Saudi Arabia data come from?
- The figures come from the World Bank, published as part of Unemployment rate,Percent,,,. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 27 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).