Women across the Gulf Cooperation Council are playing an increasingly central role in regional development, with new data showing a sharp rise in employment, labour force participation, and representation across key sectors.
The Statistical Centre for the GCC (GCC-Stat) released figures showing that the number of employed women in GCC countries climbed from 5.7 million in 2020 to 7.3 million in 2025. Over the same period, employed national women rose from 1.7 million to 2.2 million, now making up 40.5% of all employed nationals.
Female labour force participation reached 39.3% in 2025, up 8% from 2020, while the female unemployment rate fell by 26.1% to stand at 10.5% — a sign that structural barriers are gradually easing across the region.
The gains extend into the public and private sectors alike. Women's share of government sector employment rose from 33.3% to 34.8%, and private sector representation increased from 4.3% to 5.3% between 2020 and 2025.
In health and education, Gulf women remain dominant. They account for 73.76% of nursing staff, 63.8% of general education teachers, and 41.2% of higher education faculty — figures that reinforce their outsized contribution to human development across the bloc.
Tourism is emerging as a growth frontier. Women represented 13.2% of the sector's workforce in 2024, with female employment in tourism growing at an average annual rate of 9.5% between 2019 and 2024.
Underpinning these trends is a young and expanding female population. The GCC's female population grew 15.8% between 2019 and 2024 to reach 22.9 million, with around 69.5% of women falling within working age, pointing to significant untapped potential still ahead.
News Source: Emirates News Agency
