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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Saudi Arabia
Index
Estimates of the population holding Saudi citizenship have
varied widely. Official figures published by the Saudi government
indicated a population of 14,870,000 in 1990
(see
fig. 5). In the
same year, however, estimates by one Western source inside the
kingdom were as low as 6 million. United Nations estimates were
slightly less than the official Saudi figure. Based on the
official Saudi figure, at the 1990 rate of growth, a population
of 20 million was projected by the year 2000. The 1992 Saudi
census indicated an indigenous population of 12.3 million people
and a growth rate of 3.3 percent.
In addition to the population holding Saudi citizenship,
there were large numbers of foreign residents in the kingdom. In
1985 the number of foreigners was estimated at 4,563,000, with a
total foreign work force of 3,522,700. In 1990 the number of
foreigners had risen to 5,300,000. In 1990 the greatest number of
foreign workers came from Arabic-speaking countries, chiefly
Egypt, followed by Yemen, Jordan, Syria, and Kuwait, then
Pakistan, India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and the Republic of
Korea (South Korea). About 180,000 came from European countries
and 92,000 from North America. Between 1985 and 1990, the number
of foreigners employed in the economy rose, in contrast to the
substantial decline expected and called for in the Fourth
Development Plan, 1985-90
(see Five-Year Plans
, ch. 3). This
increase was reflected in the number of residence permits issued
to foreigners, which rose from 563,747 in 1985 to 705,679 in
1990. A goal of Saudi planners continued to be a reduction in the
number of foreign workers, and the Fifth Development Plan, 1990-
95, projected a 1.2 percent annual decline over five years, or a
drop of almost 250,000 foreign workers. The 1992 census gave the
number of resident foreigners as 4.6 million.
Whether such a decline could occur, or had already begun to
occur in 1992, was questionable. From an economic point of view,
there were difficulties in increasing the number of Saudi
citizens in the work force. One difficulty was that potential
Saudi workers for low-skilled and other jobs were becoming less
competitive with foreigners in the private-sector labor market.
Wages of non-Saudi workers had been adjusted downward since the
early 1980s, and, with a ready supply of non-Saudis willing to
work in low-skilled occupations, the wage gap between Saudis and
non-Saudi workers was widening. In addition, as the government
recognized, Saudi secondary school and university graduates were
not always as qualified as foreign workers for employment in the
private sector. Although the Riyadh-based Institute of Public
Administration offered training programs to increase the
competitiveness of Saudi nationals, the programs had difficulty
attracting participants.
Social constraints on the employment of women (7 percent of
the work force in 1990; 93 percent of the national work force
were men) also hampered indigenization of the work force.
Government and private groups actively sought ways to expand the
areas in which women might work. The issue became more pressing
as the number of female university graduates continued to
increase at a faster rate than the number of male graduates.
Although such economic and social pressures have militated
against increasing the number of Saudi nationals in the work
force, the desired decline in foreign labor may have occurred as
a result of new residency requirements imposed in the summer of
1990 to encourage the departure of Yemenis, the second largest
segment of the foreign labor population. As a punitive response
to the government of Yemen's sympathy with Iraq, the Saudi
government issued a decree requiring Yemenis, who were previously
exempt from regulations governing foreigners' doing business in
the kingdom, to obtain residence permits. Subsequently, about 1
million Yemenis left the country. Only three weeks after the
decree was issued, the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce announced that
there were almost 250,000 jobs, especially in the area of small
retail businesses, available for young Saudis as a result of the
regulation of foreign residence visas. It was unclear in 1992
whether the types of employment and businesses vacated by Yemenis
would prove attractive to Saudi job seekers, or whether these
jobs would be recirculated into the foreign labor market.
Data as of December 1992
Figure 5. Population by Age and Sex, 1990
Source: Based on information from United Nations, The Sex
and Age Distributions of Population, New York, 1990, 320.
Saudis and Non-Saudis
Estimates of the population holding Saudi citizenship have
varied widely. Official figures published by the Saudi government
indicated a population of 14,870,000 in 1990
(see
fig. 5). In the
same year, however, estimates by one Western source inside the
kingdom were as low as 6 million. United Nations estimates were
slightly less than the official Saudi figure. Based on the
official Saudi figure, at the 1990 rate of growth, a population
of 20 million was projected by the year 2000. The 1992 Saudi
census indicated an indigenous population of 12.3 million people
and a growth rate of 3.3 percent.
In addition to the population holding Saudi citizenship,
there were large numbers of foreign residents in the kingdom. In
1985 the number of foreigners was estimated at 4,563,000, with a
total foreign work force of 3,522,700. In 1990 the number of
foreigners had risen to 5,300,000. In 1990 the greatest number of
foreign workers came from Arabic-speaking countries, chiefly
Egypt, followed by Yemen, Jordan, Syria, and Kuwait, then
Pakistan, India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and the Republic of
Korea (South Korea). About 180,000 came from European countries
and 92,000 from North America. Between 1985 and 1990, the number
of foreigners employed in the economy rose, in contrast to the
substantial decline expected and called for in the Fourth
Development Plan, 1985-90
(see Five-Year Plans
, ch. 3). This
increase was reflected in the number of residence permits issued
to foreigners, which rose from 563,747 in 1985 to 705,679 in
1990. A goal of Saudi planners continued to be a reduction in the
number of foreign workers, and the Fifth Development Plan, 1990-
95, projected a 1.2 percent annual decline over five years, or a
drop of almost 250,000 foreign workers. The 1992 census gave the
number of resident foreigners as 4.6 million.
Whether such a decline could occur, or had already begun to
occur in 1992, was questionable. From an economic point of view,
there were difficulties in increasing the number of Saudi
citizens in the work force. One difficulty was that potential
Saudi workers for low-skilled and other jobs were becoming less
competitive with foreigners in the private-sector labor market.
Wages of non-Saudi workers had been adjusted downward since the
early 1980s, and, with a ready supply of non-Saudis willing to
work in low-skilled occupations, the wage gap between Saudis and
non-Saudi workers was widening. In addition, as the government
recognized, Saudi secondary school and university graduates were
not always as qualified as foreign workers for employment in the
private sector. Although the Riyadh-based Institute of Public
Administration offered training programs to increase the
competitiveness of Saudi nationals, the programs had difficulty
attracting participants.
Social constraints on the employment of women (7 percent of
the work force in 1990; 93 percent of the national work force
were men) also hampered indigenization of the work force.
Government and private groups actively sought ways to expand the
areas in which women might work. The issue became more pressing
as the number of female university graduates continued to
increase at a faster rate than the number of male graduates.
Although such economic and social pressures have militated
against increasing the number of Saudi nationals in the work
force, the desired decline in foreign labor may have occurred as
a result of new residency requirements imposed in the summer of
1990 to encourage the departure of Yemenis, the second largest
segment of the foreign labor population. As a punitive response
to the government of Yemen's sympathy with Iraq, the Saudi
government issued a decree requiring Yemenis, who were previously
exempt from regulations governing foreigners' doing business in
the kingdom, to obtain residence permits. Subsequently, about 1
million Yemenis left the country. Only three weeks after the
decree was issued, the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce announced that
there were almost 250,000 jobs, especially in the area of small
retail businesses, available for young Saudis as a result of the
regulation of foreign residence visas. It was unclear in 1992
whether the types of employment and businesses vacated by Yemenis
would prove attractive to Saudi job seekers, or whether these
jobs would be recirculated into the foreign labor market.
Data as of December 1992
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