Employees in the financial, insurance and mining sectors in Saudi Arabia are paid the highest average monthly compensation in the kingdom, according to the latest official statistics.

The average monthly compensation paid to employees working in the financial and insurance category reached 16,395 Saudi riyals ($4372), the second highest among all economic activities in the kingdom, according to a survey released on Tuesday by the General Authority for Statistics and covering data from the fourth quarter of 2017.

The highest average monthly compensation among all economic activities was paid to employees in mining and quarrying, at an average of 29,200 Saudi riyals, the survey showed.

The third highest paid sector was electricity, gas and air conditioning supply at an average monthly compensation package of 10,015 Saudi riyals.

As for the sector employing the highest number of Saudi nationals, the retail and wholesale trade was the top economic activity, employing 416,117 Saudis, followed by the manufacturing sector, which employed 238,952 Saudis during the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the survey. (Read more here).

Earlier this year, Saudi authorities added 12 activities to jobs that are restricted to Saudi nationals, with the majority within the retail sector, including jobs in electronics retail stores, car dealerships, furniture stores and clothing stores. (Read more here).

Retail and wholesale trade also had the highest number of businesses in Saudi during the fourth quarter of last year at 471,284 establishments, the survey also showed. This was followed by the manufacturing sector with 108,045 establishments and the accommodation and food service sector with 103,214 businesses.

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Further Reading:
• Video: Foreign workers pushed out as Saudi Arabia goes local
• Saudi Arabia needs 12 million jobs by 2022 to hit unemployment target - official
• Labour market: Number of Saudi jobseekers falls, but gender pay gap rises - statistics authority
• Major jobs market challenges persist for Saudi Arabia as end to driving ban boosts women's chance to work - report

(Reporting by Nada Al Rifai; Editing by Shane McGinley)
(nada.rifai@thomsonreuters.com)

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