Saudi Arabia evolving from driving growth to exporting development knowledge: World Bank
RIYADH: The transformation taking place in Saudi Arabia’s labor market is no longer measured solely by the decline in unemployment to a historic low of 2.8 percent, or by the fact that half of employed Saudi citizens now work in the private sector. It is increasingly measured by the Kingdom’s ability to turn investments in human capital and technology into development models that attract the attention of international institutions.
One prominent example is the Seha Virtual Hospital, the world’s largest provider of virtual healthcare services. It has successfully leveraged digital technologies and artificial intelligence to expand access to healthcare and improve service efficiency, in what the World Bank describes as a model of the knowledge- and innovation-driven economy of the future.
This assessment is reinforced by the joint report issued by the World Bank and Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, titled “A Decade of Progress: Inside Saudi Arabia’s Labor Market Transformation.”
The report finds that the Saudi economy has entered a new phase characterized by greater reliance on human capital, the private sector, and the digital economy. Labor force participation has risen to 67.1 percent, half of employed Saudi nationals now work in the private sector, and the digital economy contributes approximately 15 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
