GCC labour force hits 31.8mn, women's participation rises sharply since 2011: GCC-Stat

Data issued by the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat) revealed that the total labour force in GCC countries reached 31.8 million, representing 54.2 per cent of the total population.
Male workers accounted for 78.7 per cent, while females made up 17.6 per cent.
GCC labour force insights
The number of working citizens in the GCC stood at 5.6 million, constituting 23.4 per cent of the total labour force, with 60 per cent males and 40 per cent females.
GCC-Stat's data also showed a 600,000 increase in the number of working women in the region since 2011.
The data indicated that the government sector is still the largest employer of Gulf workers, with the percentage of employed citizens working in the public sector reaching 83.5 per cent compared to 14.2 per cent in the private sector.
Statistics also revealed that GCC countries' citizens work mainly in the services sector, particularly in public administration activities.
GCC countries have introduced policies to localise the workforce, such as the GCC Common Market and the Comprehensive Development Strategy, which aim to address imbalances in population structure, workforce distribution, and industrial development.
These policies aim to increase the national workforce's contribution to the industrial sector.
Additionally, the population strategy seeks to enhance the role of women in development, balance population and workforce structures, and improve national workforce training programmes.

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