S&P Global Ratings has projected that the growing participation of women in Saudi Arabia’s workforce could significantly boost the country’s economy by $39 billion, equivalent to 3.5% of its GDP, by 2032. The rating agency noted that labor market reforms have already led to a substantial increase in female workforce participation among Saudi nationals, nearly doubling from 19% in 2016 to almost 36% in 2022. This surge has pushed the overall participation rate to a record high of 61.7% in March 2023, compared to a low of 54.2% in June 2017.

Although the most significant increase in female labor force participation has already occurred, even gradual, continued growth in this area is expected to benefit Saudi Arabia’s economy, which is currently ranked as the 17th largest in the world. S&P suggests that even a 1 percentage point increase in the overall participation rate each year over the next decade could raise the country’s annual real GDP growth by an average of 0.3 percentage points, reaching 2.4% annually compared to the current 2.1%. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 program, initiated in 2016, aims to diversify the economy and includes objectives to boost women’s participation in the workforce, with a target of three million women employed in the private sector by 2030 and a 30% female labor force participation rate by the same year.