Saudi Arabia has set a Saudi minimum wage 2025 threshold of SR5,000 for Saudi staff in the private sector under the Nitaqat nationalization programme, so those workers count fully toward hiring quotas. The change comes from a royal decree announced by King Salman, under the guidance of Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, as part of wider labour and economic reforms meant to strengthen citizens’ financial security.
What the Nitaqat wage rule requires
Nitaqat is Saudi Arabia’s system for measuring how far private firms employ Saudi nationals. Under the new directive, a Saudi employee must earn at least SR5,000 for that hire to count fully toward a company’s nationalization quota. Officials frame the step as a push to lift local wage levels, career standards, and longer-term private-sector job stability.
The SR5,000 floor is due to apply in six months. Twelve months after that, the same Nitaqat benchmark rises to SR6,000. That staged climb is the core of the Saudi minimum wage 2025 private-sector track described in the decree.
Citizen allowance and utility tariff changes
The labour rules sit alongside planned public utility updates. The Saudi Energy Company and the National Water Company are to adjust electricity and water consumption tariffs from 1 January 2027.
To cushion household budgets, the royal package creates a direct monthly allowance of SR500. Coverage extends to civil service and military personnel, public-sector programme workers, retirees, social insurance beneficiaries, and families enrolled in the national social security system.
What employers must do next
Businesses across the Kingdom are expected to rework pay structures and compliance plans so Saudi salaries meet the new Nitaqat floors. The decree pairs stricter private-sector wage rules with targeted public support, presenting both as part of efforts to modernise the labour market while protecting citizen purchasing power.
For readers watching Saudi Arabia jobs for Pakistani workers and other foreign staff, the published terms apply to Saudi employees counted under Nitaqat; the decree does not set a separate foreign-worker wage figure.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Royal decree: King Salman announces Nitaqat wage floors and a citizen support package under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s guidance.
- In six months: SR5,000 becomes the Nitaqat baseline for Saudi private-sector employees to count fully toward quotas.
- Twelve months after the SR5,000 start: the Nitaqat minimum rises to SR6,000.
- 1 January 2027: electricity and water consumption tariffs are scheduled to change; the SR500 monthly allowance is tied to easing that impact.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Saudi Arabia ne private sector mein Saudi mulazimeen ke liye Nitaqat ke under kam az kam tankhwah SR5,000 qarar di hai. Yeh qanoon chheh mahine baad lagega, aur us ke baad ek saal mein SR6,000 ho jayegi. Sarkar kai citizen groups ko SR500 mahana madad bhi degi, kyunke 2027 se bijli aur pani ke rates badalne wale hain. Pakistani ya doosre foreign workers ke liye alag minimum wage is decree mein nahi likhi gayi.
