By the conclusion of the third quarter of 2023, the average monthly salary of Saudis working in the public and private sectors was SR9872, while the average salary for women was approximately SR6280.
Based on official reports, Okaz/Saudi Gazette conducted a monitoring which revealed that 295,846 Saudi men were employed in the public sector, with a total monthly salary of around SR4.16 billion. There are 127,575 women employed by the government, and their combined compensation comes to SR1.64 billion.
In terms of non-Saudi earnings, non-Saudi female average salaries were higher than the sum of non-Saudi male average incomes. In the government sector, there were approximately 39,866 non-Saudi female employees, with total salaries of SR359.91 million, making the average salary of women in the sector approximately SR9028. Similarly, there were approximately 73,365 non-Saudi male employees, with total salaries of SR523.83 million, making the average salary of a non-Saudi individual in the sector SR7140.
In the private sector, non-Saudi women received salaries that were higher than the combined salaries of non-Saudi men. There were approximately 621,715 non-Saudi female employees, earning a total salary of SR2.23 billion, or an average of SR3587. A non-Saudi employee’s average pay is approximately SR2523. The number of male non-Saudi employees in the private sector reached 7.56 million, with salaries totalling SR19.09 billion.
Saudi women employed in the public sector made approximately SR12872, compared to the average income of SR14053 for male employees. The number of Saudi workers in the private sector is estimated to be 1.35 million, and their combined incomes are worth SR12.05 billion, translating into an average salary of almost SR8953.
The monitoring found that there were 927,624 Saudi women employed in the private sector, earning a total compensation of SR4.98 billion. This means that the average wage of a female employee in the private sector was SR5373.
Talking about addressing the pay gap in the Saudi economy, the Kingdom launched the ‘Human Capacity Development Program’, within its ambitious economic diversification agenda called the ‘Vision 2030’.
In January 2023, the global report on the gender gap, issued by the World Economic Forum, showed the Gulf nation advancing 10 places in the index of equal wages for similar work for both genders. Saudi achieved 16th place worldwide, and 12 place in terms of the percentage of women’s participation in the labour force.
The Kingdom also jumped 22 ranks in the employee training index to achieve 14th place globally, and 12 ranks in vocational training, to occupy the 9th rank in this indicator.
While the Saudi Council of Ministers has approved the adoption of the national policy to encourage equal opportunities and equal treatment in employment, the percentage of women’s participation in the local labour market in 2022 reached 37%, exceeding the target of 30%, which was set within ‘Vision 2030’.
The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development recently announced that the percentage of commitment to the new decisions and regulations by establishments operating in the labour market reached 98%, while the percentage of commitment to wage protection reached 80%. The rate of the amicable settlement of labour disputes rose to 74%.