Saudi unemployment hits historic low

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00:00Ali, some of the numbers that stuck out for me were the number of employees, for example,

00:05in small and medium enterprises reaching 7.8 million people during the course of the year

00:122024. That's up from 4.7 million four or five years ago. So that's on track. And it goes some

00:19way, doesn't it, towards explaining why the unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia is at a

00:23historic low level? Well, there's multiple reasons for that. But perhaps one of the most interesting

00:28ones is the fact that one of the metrics reported earlier this week was the female participation

00:37rate, the female employment participation rate of 30%, which was targeted for 2030, has already

00:44been met. There has been a drastic increase in female employment participation rate. This

00:49is not to discount the work that's taking place across broader industrial development

00:58initiatives. You know, on top of that, there are studies that show that one in three people

01:04under the age of 65 have an interest in starting a small business. And I think what's taking

01:11place is, first of all, a generally greater rate of people participating in employment and

01:18the female segment being one of them, but also an evolving culture, a changing culture towards

01:24SME enterprises, SME enterprises, and a general entrepreneurial spirit across the region.