Wage bill as a percentage of GDP in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: Wage bill as a percentage of GDP was 13.2% in 2022. ▼ Falling

Latest (2022)
13.2%
Change on year
down 16.7%
World rank
22nd
of 190 countries
All-time high
19.7%
in 2002
All-time low
11.3%
in 2008
Years of data
23
2000–2022

Wage bill as a percentage of GDP in Saudi Arabia, 2000–2022

051015202000201120222000: 18.82001: 18.62002: 19.72003: 17.12004: 17.62005: 13.82006: 13.32007: 13.82008: 11.32009: 15.12010: 14.52011: 13.82012: 13.72013: 13.62014: 142015: 18.52016: 18.22017: 16.32018: 15.82019: 16.82020: 18.82021: 15.92022: 13.2

Source: World Bank.

Analysis

Saudi Arabia recorded 13.2% for wage bill as a percentage of gdp in 2022.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 16.7% on the previous year and down 3.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, wage bill as a percentage of gdp in Saudi Arabia peaked at 19.7% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 11.3%, in 2008.

That places Saudi Arabia 22nd out of 190 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 23 years of available data.

Wage bill as a percentage of GDP in Saudi Arabia, year by year

Annual values for Wage bill as a percentage of GDP in Saudi Arabia, 2000 to 2022.
Year Value Change
2000 18.8%
2001 18.6% -0.8%
2002 19.7% +6.1%
2003 17.1% -13.6%
2004 17.6% +3.4%
2005 13.8% -21.5%
2006 13.3% -3.8%
2007 13.8% +3.3%
2008 11.3% -18.0%
2009 15.1% +34.0%
2010 14.5% -3.7%
2011 13.8% -4.9%
2012 13.7% -1.0%
2013 13.6% -0.6%
2014 14.0% +2.6%
2015 18.5% +32.8%
2016 18.2% -2.0%
2017 16.3% -10.5%
2018 15.8% -2.7%
2019 16.8% +5.9%
2020 18.8% +11.9%
2021 15.9% -15.4%
2022 13.2% -16.7%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 15.9% 11.3% 19.7% 10
2010s 15.5% 13.6% 18.5% 10
2020s 15.9% 13.2% 18.8% 3

Countries ranked near Saudi Arabia

  1. 19 Botswana 13.9% compare
  2. 20 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 13.7% compare
  3. 21 Samoa 13.7% compare
  4. 23 Timor-Leste 13.2% compare
  5. 24 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 13.0% compare
  6. 25 Afghanistan 12.7% compare

See the full ranking of 190 places →

More reference data data for Saudi Arabia

All data for Saudi Arabia →

Frequently asked questions

What is wage bill as a percentage of gdp in Saudi Arabia?
Wage bill as a percentage of gdp in Saudi Arabia was 13.2% in 2022, according to the World Bank.
What is the highest wage bill as a percentage of gdp recorded in Saudi Arabia?
The highest recorded value was 19.7% in 2002.
What is the lowest wage bill as a percentage of gdp recorded in Saudi Arabia?
The lowest recorded value was 11.3% in 2008.
How does Saudi Arabia rank for wage bill as a percentage of gdp?
Saudi Arabia ranks 22nd out of 190 countries with data for 2022.
Is wage bill as a percentage of gdp rising or falling in Saudi Arabia?
Over the last ten years it is down 3.5%. 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 Wage bill as a percentage of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 23 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Wage bill as a percentage of GDP in Saudi Arabia. Statizoid. Retrieved 23 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/wage-bill-as-a-percentage-of-gdp/saudi-arabia/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/wage-bill-as-a-percentage-of-gdp/saudi-arabia/">Wage bill as a percentage of GDP in Saudi Arabia</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Wage bill as a percentage of GDP
Source
World Bank
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
190 places, 4,104 data points, 2000–2022
Last refreshed