Salary Trends for IT Professionals in Saudi Arabia: What to Expect

Information technology experts are in very high demand in Saudi Arabia owing to the robust growth in this sector in the past decade. In an event organized by the Saudi Digital Technology Forum 2023 in Riyad, it was announced that in 2022 SAR 81 billion ($21.6 billion) accounted for the revenue of the IT industry and this figure is expected to reach SAR 103 billion ($27.4 billion) by the year 2025.

This goes to show that the IT market in Saudi Arabia is going to grow even further and that brings a lot of job opportunities for skilled individuals in the field.

In this article, we are going to look at the salary trends in the IT sector in Saudi Arabia. With this information, you will come to know how much you can earn based on your skills and expertise in Saudi Arabia so stay with us till the end.

Here are a few things we will be covering during the course of this article

• Average Salary of IT Professionals in Saudi Arabia
• Average Salaries for Different IT Professionals in Saudi Arabia 
• Distribution of IT Salaries in Saudi Arabia i.e., Salary Ranges, Median, Percentiles, etc.
• IT Salaries by Experience Level
• IT Salaries by Education Level
• IT Salaries by Gender
• Average Pay Raise for IT Professionals in Saudi Arabia  

Average Salary of IT Professionals in Saudi Arabia

As an IT professional working in Saudi Arabia, you can expect to make about 125,700 SAR on average in a Year. The salary can range from the lowest 60,340 SAR to the highest 197,600 SAR based on your experience level, relevant field, and education.

These numbers include the estimated pay raises, bonuses, health, housing, and transport benefits that an IT professional typically gets in the KSA.

Average Salaries for Different IT Professionals in Saudi Arabia 

Following are the salary ranges for IT professionals working in different positions in Saudi Arabia

Distribution of IT Salaries in Saudi Arabia

To further understand the IT salary trends in Saudi Arabia let’s have a look at the distribution of salaries 

• Salary Ranges

As we have mentioned above, an IT expert can make about 60,340 SAR to 197, 600 SAR per year in Saudi Arabia. From a purely statistical point of view, these numbers give a very reliable IT salary range in the region.

The huge difference in the maximum and minimum salary shows the variability in salaries which can help both employers and employees to come to a decision as to how much they can expect to pay and earn respectively. 

• Median Salary

The median salary refers to the middle value in the distribution of salaries. This value shows how much of the population earns above or below a certain value. In Saudi Arabia, the median salary is about 130, 400 SAR. This means half of the population earns below and the other half above this number.

Your goal should be to find a job where you are earning more than the median value in a year. 

• Percentiles

Percentiles are a good way to show how much a certain percentage of the population is earning in IT in the region.  On average about 25% of IT professionals earn about 87,740 SAR while about 75% make more than 86,740 SAR. This is another reliable indicator of the growth in the IT sector of Saudi Arabia.

IT Salaries by Experience Level

Your experience level impacts your salary in every field and IT is not an exception. Here is how much you can expect to make as an IT expert based on your experience

IT Salaries by Education Level

Another factor that can affect how much you can make as an IT professional in Saudi Arabia is your qualifications level.

 Here is what you can make based on your education in KSA

• If you have a certificate or Diploma in IT, you can expect to make on average 87,040 SAR in a year.
• With a Bachelor’s Degree in IT, you can make up to 138,800 in Saudi Arabia.
• If you have a Master’s Degree then you can easily find a job in this region that pays you more than 189,300 per year.  

IT Salaries by Gender

If you consider the pay gap between the salaries earned by men and women experts in IT in KSA you find that though there is a difference, it is not huge. The male IT experts in the region earn up to 136, 100 SAR. In comparison, the women in this field make about 125, 100 SAR in a year. This shows that women IT staff make about 9% less than male professionals. 

Average Pay Raise for IT Professionals in Saudi Arabia  

In order to reward the services of the employees various public and private IT sectors give annual pay raises. The average pay raise in this region is about 9% for every 19 months.

In comparison, the average pay raise across all sectors in KSA is about 8% every 17 months.

But the above data doesn’t clearly show how much pay raise you can expect to get in 12 months or one year. We can simplify the above data to find the pay raise for 12 months.

Here is how you can calculate it yourself

Annual Increase = Increase rate/Months x 12

By putting the value of the increase rate and the months in which you get that increase and then multiplying the result with 12, you can easily find the pay raise increase for a year.

For IT professionals, the estimated pay raise in a year comes down to about 6% using the above formula.   

Conclusion

The average salary of IT professionals in Saudi Arabia ranges from 60,340 SAR to 197,600 SAR annually. The salary may vary based on your education, experience, gender, and the city of Saudi Arabia where you are currently working.

Saudi public and private sectors also offer a pay raise of about 6% every year and a bonus of about 4%. So, working in Saudi Arabia as an IT professional can be a really wise step in your career. The job opportunities are endless if you know the right way to find them and the salaries match your skill level and expertise which is a win-win. You can visit Marc Ellis to find exciting IT job opportunities in Saudi Arabia and other regions of the Middle East.