Regulatory update / Nitaqat 2026
Nitaqat 2026: check the target for your business activity.
Nitaqat is the company-wide system that groups businesses by Saudi workforce participation. The 2026 phase updates the targets used for 2026–2028; there is no single percentage for every company.
- Target depends on
- Activity + workforce
- Planning period
- 2026–2028
- Confirm your band
- In Qiwa
01 / Check your business
Does this affect you?
Your required percentage depends on the business activity, workforce size and applicable period. Activities do not all change by the same amount or on the same date.
Businesses with five or fewer workers sit outside the main formula and need one Saudi worker under the guide. For other businesses, use the official calculator and check which activity Qiwa applies.
02 / Your next step
What should you do?
Confirm the activity
Check your Qiwa classification, especially if the company has several activities.
Check who counts
Review contracts and the wages registered for GOSI contributions. Basic salary alone is not the whole test.
Plan before you transact
Check your live band and the conditions for the visa, permit or transfer you need.
03 / Check the source
Sources & supporting detail
Targeted review of the rates, wage basis, scope and dates discussed here. Confirm current requirements and individual applicability with the authority.
Worker counting and service conditions
The Five Bands and What They Allow
Service eligibility depends on the band and the service's other conditions. Confirm the live position in Qiwa.
Platinum, High Green, Mid Green
- Upper bands can support access to visas, work permits, profession changes and transfers, subject to each service's conditions
- Immediate counting has its own eligibility conditions; it is not an unconditional upper-band entitlement
Low Green
- New visa requests and profession changes are restricted
- Existing work-permit renewals are conditional, including the guide's six-month-or-less remaining residency-validity condition
Red
- Blocked: new visas, work-permit issuance, work-permit renewal, change of profession, transfers in
- Expatriate employees may transfer out without the establishment's consent
Low Green used to be a safe zone. In the 2026 guide it already loses new visas — plan to sit in Mid Green or above.
Who Counts, and How Much
Use the registered GOSI contributory wage and the applicable contract-category conditions. Basic salary alone is not the complete wage test.
- SAR 4,000 or more — counts as one full worker
- SAR 3,000 to 3,999 — counts as half a worker
- Below SAR 3,000 — not counted
- Part-time Saudi (GOSI paid, at least SAR 3,000) — half a worker
- Flexible-work Saudi — one-third of a worker per 168 hours completed in the month
- GCC nationals are treated as Saudis
- Additional multipliers apply for Saudis with disabilities, students and remote workers under HRSD's unified guide, subject to caps
A Saudi on a documented Qiwa contract with the correct GOSI wage is the only Saudi that counts. Unregistered or under-registered wages lower your ratio silently.
Need help applying this to your business?
We can help you identify the records and next steps to check.