According to official Saudi data, 785,000 foreign employees in the private sector have left their jobs in the 15 months since the beginning of 2017.

According to data from the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) , the number of expats fell to 7.71 million at the end of the first quarter of this year, compared to 8.495 million at the end of 2016. In contrast, the number of Saudi employees rose to 1.76 million by the end of the first quarter of this year, compared to 1.68 million in 2016, according to an Anadolu survey.

The expatriates’ loss of their jobs in Saudi Arabia is linked to the government’s efforts to strengthen the settlement of local labour in a number of economic sectors over the past two years.

The Saudi government stipulated local labour only in various sectors, such as insurance, communications and transportation, with an unemployment rate of citizens in the Kingdom reaching 12.8 per cent. The Saudi government will limit work in outlets to 12 activities and professions, mostly in the retail sector, to Saudis only, starting on 11 September.

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