A Saudi newspaper reports that the number of domestic workers in Saudi Arabia reached 3.5 million in the third quarter of last year, up nearly 193,000 from the second quarter.

In a report based on official figures, Al Eqtisadiah said the increase was the highest since the fourth quarter of 2019.

According to the report, the increase in domestic labour in Q3 of 2022 was mainly due to an increase in the number of house servants and cleaning workers. The report reported 32,700 house drivers.

Domestic workers accounted for approximately 32.8% of the estimated 10.9 million migrant workers in the kingdom at the end of the third quarter last year.

Private sector employment accounts for 66.8% of expatriates in the kingdom. At the end of Q3 last year, drivers made up 49 percent of the overall domestic labor in Saudi Arabia, followed by house servants and cleaning workers with 48 percent. Other housework is done by the remaining 3% of workers.

In the third quarter of 2022, domestic labour in the kingdom increased without explanation.

One reason may be the lifting of restrictions prompted by COVID-19 earlier this year.

In Saudi Arabia, domestic workers include housekeepers, drivers, housemaids, cleaners, cooks, guards, farmers, tailors, live-in nurses, tutors and nannies.