Saudi women are taking the workforce by storm, a recent study has found.
According to figures provided by the Ministry of Labour and Social Development, the number of Saudi women working in the private sector has increased by 130 percent in the past four years, Gulf News reported.
Women now represent 30% of the private sector
According to the study, the number of women working in the kingdom's private sector has spiked from 215,000 to 496,000 between 2012 and 2016, indicating a 130% rise.
The study added that the percentage of women in the private sector's workforce has increased from 12 percent to 30 percent between 2011 and 2017
It also revealed that Riyadh has the highest percentage (41 percent) of employment opportunities for women, followed by Makkah with 21.5 percent.
The figures come in light of the Ministry of Labor's efforts to boost female employment, launching various projects and programs to empower women financially and help them find work.
This March, the ministry launched a program that allows women to work from home, announcing that 4,500 women were employed through the program at the time. The ministry expects the project to generate 141,000 jobs by 2020.
According to the World Bank, as of 2016, 15.2 percent of the total Saudi labor force has been femalefemale as of 2016. The ministry hopes to increase the percentage of women to 28 percent by 2020.
Women play a major role in the kingdom's economy
Saudi women hold a massive amount of the kingdom's wealth. This March, Saudi daily Okaz reported that 40% of the private wealth in the country is in women's hands and Saudi women own >15 thousand commercial institutions.
Saudi women have particularly made huge strides in the field of entrepreneurship. According to statistics from the Al-Sayedah Khadijah Bint Khuwailid Businesswomen’s Center in late 2015, 63 percent of Saudi women have successful businesses.
This comes as no surprise seeing that Saudi female university students outnumber men.