Labour force in GCC countries reaches 31.8mln: GCC-Stat

MUSCAT: 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 percent of the total population.
Male workers accounted for 78.7 percent, while females made up 17.6 percent.
The number of working citizens in the GCC stood at 5.6 million, constituting 23.4 percent of the total labour force, with 60 percent males and 40 percent 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 a wide scope for localisation in the private sector. The percentage of employed citizens working in the public sector reached 83.5 percent compared to 14.2 percent 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.
All GCC countries give priority to young workers, promote economic diversification efforts and move towards creating green and environmentally friendly jobs.

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