Have we become a nation of idlers? That’s what official statistics seem to indicate. According to a report by the Central Statistics and Information Department (CSID), there are about 11.8 million Saudis of working age, but only 3.8 million are actually working. That leaves eight million Saudi citizens, or two out of three, who are not working during a period of high growth and prosperity. In economic terms, these figures translate into a 32 percent “labor force participation rate,” which is extremely low by international standards.

By contrast, labor force participation rates in the seven large industrialized countries (G7) range between 63 percent for Italy and 77 percent for Canada. In the United States, Japan, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom and other industrialized countries, rates are over 70 percent, with slight cyclical fluctuations.

The eight million Saudis who are not working are either technically “unemployed,” or just “out of the labor force.” To be considered officially unemployed, they have to meet strict CSID standards, which only about 450,000 job seekers have met. Under more relaxed rules of the Ministry of Labor, about 700,000 are considered as such and the number is likely to climb as “Hafiz” program of employment incentives gets under way after its initial start this month.

If you then deduct from the eight million figure some three million who are between age (15-19), retired, disabled, or what have you, you are still left with some five million able bodied Saudis who are not in the labor force and who may want to join its ranks if given the chance.

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