Number of workers in accommodation and food services sector down 11% to 386,400 in Q1 2021: GASTAT

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The number of workers in the accommodation and food services activities sector dropped by 11%, or 46,000 quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), to 386,400 in Q1 2021, the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) data showed.

The accommodation and food services activities sector comprises two sections:

First: Accommodation and Food Services

This section comprises a number of activities including hotels, resorts, furnished apartments, motels, staff housing, guesthouses, bed and breakfast units, visitor flats and bungalows, time-share units, holiday homes, chalets, housekeeping cottages and cabins and youth hostels and mountain refuges.  

Second: Food and Beverages Services Activities

This section includes activities of restaurants, mobile food carts, fast-food restaurants, buffets, etc.

The number of Saudis working in the sector declined 13%, or 12,000 workers, to 78,300, accounting for 20% of the industry’s total workforce in Q1 2021. Meanwhile, the number of non-Saudi workers, representing 80% of the sector total workforce, fell 10%, or nearly 34,000, to 308,100 workers in Q1 2021.