Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Civil Service said Wednesday that more than 72,000 foreign employees work in the state’s institutions and make up 5.7 per cent of total government officials.
In a report published on its website, the ministry said that according to the Civil Service Retirement System, the total number of government employees in the country is approximately 1.257 million people.
The ministry pointed out that most of the foreign government workers hold jobs in the health and education sectors, especially in the field of higher education.
According to the latest statistics released by the Saudi Department of Statistics and Information, the number of foreign workers in the Kingdom increased by 2.15 per cent or 6.14 million workers by the end of last year compared with 6.01 million by the end of 2013.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate among Saudis rose by 11.8 per cent during 2014 compared to 11.7 per cent during 2013.
The number of foreign residents in the Kingdom stood at 10.07 million people by the end of 2014 to constitute a third of the Kingdom’s population (32 per cent).
The Ministry of Civil Service said that male workers make up 60 per cent of public staff while women make up 40 per cent of the total staff.
According to the report Saudi citizens make up 94.3 per cent of the total public employees.