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Sunday, Feb 22, 2026

8,400 establishments, 95,600 staff leave contracting market last year

8,400 establishments, 95,600 staff leave contracting market last year

A total of 8,391 establishments and 95,638 employees have left the contracting market during the year 2021, according to a monitoring carried out by Okaz/Saudi Gazette based on reports of various government agencies.
The number of contracting establishments decreased to 167,100 by the end of last year, down from 175,500 establishments in 2020, with the exit of about 8,391 establishments from the market. This figure is equivalent to 4.78 percent of the total contracting establishments.

According to the monitoring, the number of workers in the contracting sector decreased by 3.37 percent, bringing the number of workers in the contracting market by the end of last year to about 2.74 million male and female workers, in comparison to about 2.84 million workers in 2020, with the exit of a total of 95,638 workers from the market.

The building construction activities came first among the largest number of establishments and workers that quit the contracting sector. This branch included 91,230 establishments, representing 55 percent of the total establishments operating in the sector with about 1.67 million male and female workers, representing up to 61 percent of the total employees in the contracting sector.

The building construction activities were followed by construction activities with 54,400 establishments, representing 30 percent of the sector’s establishments, with 380100 workers, representing 14 percent of the total employees in the contracting sector.

The activities for the provision of services for buildings and beautification of sites comes in the third place with 23,400 establishments, representing 14 percent of the establishments with 515,400 workers who make up 19 percent of employees in the contracting sector.

The activities of civil engineering; mining services; collection, treatment and disposal of waste; and material recovery got the least share in terms of the number of establishments. The number of establishments operating in civil engineering activities reached 1,053, representing 0.63 percent, with 22,523 male and female workers, representing 0.8 percent.

In mining support services, there are 834 establishments, representing 0.5 percent with 151,053 male and female workers, representing 5.5 percent and there are 142 establishments in the waste collection, treatment and disposal activities.

These firms represent 0.1 percent of the sector’s establishments, with 8,789 male and female workers, representing 0.3 percent of the total employees in the contracting sector.
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