Dubai: The recently released Saudi Women's Report for 2022, by the General Authority of Statistics, has revealed a surge in the number of divorced women, totalling 350,000.
The age bracket of 30-34 years witnessed the highest divorce rate with over 54,000 instances, closely trailed by the 35-39 years group with more than 53,000 divorces. In addition, the year observed a count of 203,469 widows.
This deep dive into statistics comes after examining several surveys, registry data, and the results of the 2022 census, offering insights into women's roles in education, health, sports, technology, and more. The age groups 15-19 and 20-24 years saw the highest female populations with 916,439 and 850,780 respectively.
On the brighter side, Saudi women have shown resilience and growth in the employment sector.
The unemployment rate witnessed a promising decline, resting at 15.4 per cent in Q4 of 2022, demonstrating palpable progress from preceding years. Furthermore, there has been a commendable uptick in women's economic contributions, increasing from 27.6 per cent in Q4 of 2021 to 30.4 per cent in Q4 of 2022. This propels the overall rate of female participation in the labor market to a robust 36 per cent.
The spirit of entrepreneurship among women has been thriving. Astonishingly, self-employment documents issued to women in 2021 shot up to 961,189, a monumental increase from a mere 7,997 in 2019.
The stock market has not remained untouched by the influence of Saudi women either. 2021 marked the participation of 1,516,995 female investors, showcasing an impressive growth trajectory from 2019 and 2020.
Physical health also stands as a priority among women. A significant 38.7 per cent of females aged 15 and above committed to at least 30 minutes of physical activity weekly in 2021, recording the best numbers in recent years.
