Saudization of Procurement Professions: Decree 77050 and 70% at Entity Level

The Saudization of procurement professions is set by ministerial decision number 77050, dated in its procedural guide 9/6/1447 AH · 30 November 2025. The Saudi procurement Saudization rate it sets is 70%, measured at entity level, with a six-month grace period and application from 31 May 2026.

This decree does not reach every establishment that buys things. Its scope in its guide covers establishments that employ three workers or more in procurement professions. The threshold is three, not one, and it is counted in procurement professions rather than across the establishment. That is the first thing to read from it.

This article covers this decree alone: its percentage, its denominator, its threshold and its dates. The architecture the localisation decrees share, their relationship to the Nitaqat programme and the definition of the entity are covered in profession Saudization decrees and how they differ from Nitaqat, and are not repeated here.

1. What the decree sets: 70% at entity level

The percentage set in this decree’s guide is 70%, and its level of measurement is the entity, not the branch. The entity in the ministry’s guides is the capacity the ministry deals with for the purposes of calculating localisation, representing all branches in the same economic activity owned by a single establishment.

So an establishment with three branches in a single economic activity under a single owner has its branches measured together under this decree, and no branch is measured on its own.

2. The scope threshold: three workers or more in procurement professions

The scope of this decree in its guide covers establishments that employ three workers or more in procurement professions. The threshold is measured by the number of workers in procurement professions, not by the establishment’s total headcount and not by the size of its purchasing.

This distinction carries real weight. An entity with forty employees, of whom two work in procurement professions, is below this decree’s threshold. An entity with six employees, of whom three work in procurement professions, is above it.

The threshold is not uniform across the localisation decrees

Anyone who reads the three-worker threshold here and then carries it over to the administrative support decree reads himself outside a decree he is inside with a single employee. The two thresholds are not interchangeable: an entity with two workers in procurement professions and one employee in secretarial work falls under 132249 and does not fall under 77050.

3. The denominator: workers in procurement professions

This decree is one of the cross-cutting decrees, and in that family the denominator is the workers in the professions the decree names, not the establishment’s total headcount.

That denominator is not a general rule across every localisation decree. Some activity decrees calculate on total headcount: the decree on the retail outlets of seven economic activities (208819) sets its percentage at 70% of the total workers in the outlet, and the decree on real-estate activities and professions sets its percentage at 70% of the total number of workers. So the percentage can match while the denominator differs, and each decree’s denominator is read from its own guide.

4. Rounding to a whole worker

The fraction produced by multiplying the percentage by the number of workers is rounded to a whole worker. The rounding rule in the procurement guide is: 0.49 and below rounds to zero, and 0.5 and above rounds to 1.

Its effect on small numbers is visible. An entity with 3 workers in procurement professions: 70% of 3 is 2.1, the fraction 0.1 rounds to zero, so the number is 2. An entity with 5 workers in procurement professions: 70% of 5 is 3.5, the fraction 0.5 rounds to 1, so the number is 4.

These two examples show the denominator, the operation and the rounding. They do not show the effect of a wage condition, and they settle no date. The headcount in each is an assumed input for illustrating the calculation, not a threshold and not a ruling.

5. The grace period and the date

The grace period in this decree is six months, and it applies from 31 May 2026.

The grace period in these decrees is counted from publication of the ministerial decision. The guides define it as the period between the date of publication of the ministerial decision and the date of its application and enforcement. It starts from publication of the decision, not from publication of the guide and not from the establishment’s awareness of it.

The length of the grace period differs by decree within the same family: the marketing and sales decrees each have a three-month grace period, and this decree has six months. A duration is no more carried across than a threshold is.

6. Monitoring is automated, and its source is the GOSI registration

Supervision of the localisation decrees is not a report the establishment files. The mechanism as stated in the administrative support guide in this family is that the system applies the formula based on the occupational titles in the Social Insurance database, and then verifies wages and professional accreditation through a technical link with the supervisory bodies.

Its effect in procurement professions is plain: the title that is read is the one registered with GOSI, not the internal title in your org chart. The social insurance registration is the record to reconcile against. The profession codes rest on the Saudi Unified Classification of Occupations issued by the General Authority for Statistics, and the targeted-profession tables are keyed to it.

7. The job title and the actual work, together

Applying the decree does not stop at the registered title: the decree is applied to the occupational titles and to the worker’s actual work.

The trigger for breach as stated in the guides reaches assigning any task belonging to a localised profession to a non-Saudi directly or indirectly under any other job title. Changing the title alone does not take the work out of the decree.

8. The wage floor: what is not in this guide

A number of localisation decrees make counting a Saudi worker toward the percentage conditional on a floor for his contribution wage registered with GOSI: SAR 8,000 in the engineering professions, SAR 5,500 in the marketing professions, SAR 5,000 in the technical engineering professions. The components of that wage are set out in the contribution wage at GOSI.

This guide did not find a wage floor in the procurement professions guide. That is an absence from the reading, not a denial that a condition exists. It may not be said that this decree carries no wage condition, nor may the marketing floor be carried over to it because the two decrees share a threshold. The detail is a matter to be referred to the procedural guide and the competent authority.

9. Professional accreditation: a place where nothing is said

The monitoring mechanism mentions professional accreditation among the things the system verifies. Seven of the guides read name the body the accreditation is taken from in their decrees, and the procurement professions decree is not among them.

It does not follow that this decree carries no accreditation condition. A decree in which no body was named in the guides read is not said to be without a condition, just as conditions this guide did not find are not described for it.

10. The decision is an update of its predecessor

This decision is framed as approving an update of the procedural guide, and it names in its preamble the decision it updates: ministerial decision number 141612 dated 11/9/1444 AH.

Its repeal wording is unqualified: this decision repeals everything in previous decisions that conflicts with it. This is the same wording as in the sales and marketing decisions, and it differs from the qualified wording in the engineering, administrative support and project management decisions, which carve out what is stated in paragraph (third), the higher-percentage rule.

The text of decision 141612 was not obtained by this guide. It was read as a reference, not as a text, so nothing is said about its content.

11. When two decrees overlap: the higher percentage

A procurement profession may be reached by this decree and by an activity or regional decree. The guides and the signed decisions state that where localisation percentages differ, the higher percentage is applied.

Which of the two decrees reaches a particular establishment is read from each decree’s scope of application, not from this rule.

12. Breach: the trigger is settled, the amount is not published here

The trigger for breach as stated in the guides is two things: failing to reach the required percentage, or assigning a task belonging to a localised profession to a non-Saudi directly or indirectly under any other job title.

The amount of the fine is not published here. The decisions refer to a schedule of violations and penalties, and this decision refers to decisions 75913 and 44558, while the schedule of violations and penalties page published by the ministry today carries decision 112377 alone, with no mention of those two. The relationship between the reference and the schedule published today was not found in any source for this guide. So no fine amount is attributed to this decree, and it is not said that its reference to an older schedule has weakened its effect.

What this guide does not settle

• The wage floor for counting under this decree: this guide did not find it in its procedural guide, and no other decree’s floor is carried over to it.
• The table of targeted procurement professions and their codes: it is read from the decree’s procedural guide, and no particular profession is counted here as inside it or outside it.
• The professional accreditation condition in this decree: no body was named for it in the guides read, and the absence of a name is not a denial of the condition.
• The content of decision 141612, which this decision updates: read as a reference, not as a text.
• The fine amount arising from breach of this decree, and what becomes of its reference to decisions 75913 and 44558.
• The text of Article 11 bis and Article 36 of the Labor Law, on which the decision rests, and what they authorise.
• The effect of meeting this decree on the establishment’s Nitaqat classification: this guide found it in no source, so it is asserted neither positively nor negatively.

Each of these is a matter to be referred to the statutory text and the competent authority.

What your system should record

The number the ministry sees is read from the GOSI registration, not from your file. So what is useful to hold in your own employee file is whatever you can reconcile against that registration:

• The number of workers in procurement professions at entity level, which decides both whether you cross the threshold and what your denominator is.
• The occupational title registered with GOSI for each of them, and its code in the Saudi Unified Classification of Occupations.
• The actual work the worker performs, where it departs from his title.
• The branches inside the entity: which are in the same economic activity and which are outside it.
• The contribution wage for every Saudi in a targeted profession, not the basic wage.
• The date 31 May 2026 and the end of the grace period attached to it.

Checklist

• Do you have three workers or more in procurement professions at entity level, not at branch level?
• Did you divide by the workers in procurement professions, or by the establishment’s total headcount?
• Did you apply the rounding rule as it stands: 0.49 and below to zero, 0.5 and above to 1?
• Do the titles registered with GOSI match the actual work in the procurement function?
• Did you carry this decree’s threshold or its grace period over to another decree that reaches your establishment?
• Do you have a profession reached by this decree and by an activity or regional decree, and did you apply the higher percentage?
• Are you watching 31 May 2026, or waiting for the effect of a breach?

Why this turns into a problem

The effect of this decree shows up late. An establishment is not notified on the day it falls below the percentage. Monitoring is automated from social insurance data, and the breach is known when it happens.

Some sources of error are not revealed by the number alone. One is dividing by total headcount instead of by the workers in procurement professions, which shows a compliance that does not exist in the case where the Saudi share across the whole entity reaches the required percentage while their share inside the procurement professions falls below it. Another is counting a branch on its own while it sits inside the entity with others. Another is stopping at the registered title without the actual work, when the decree reaches both together.

This is where having the facts of an employee in a single file starts to pay. That is what Qoyod HR provides: one employee file holding the contract, the documents and their expiry dates with a reminder before them, an attendance record for every employee, his leave, his salary and his end-of-service entitlements. End-of-service, overtime and leave-balance calculations are built into the system. It is a standalone HR system on its own subscription, and the connection to Qoyod Accounting is now available.

For more guides and templates, browse the HR resource centre.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Saudization percentage for procurement professions in decree 77050?

The percentage set in the guide to decree 77050 is 70%, and its level of measurement is the entity, not the branch. The entity in the ministry’s guides is the capacity the ministry deals with for the purposes of calculating localisation, representing all branches in the same economic activity owned by a single establishment.

Which establishments does the procurement Saudization decree apply to?

Its scope in its guide covers establishments that employ three workers or more in procurement professions. So the threshold is measured by the number of workers in procurement professions, not by the establishment’s total headcount. It differs from the threshold in the administrative support professions decree (132249), which is one worker or more in the targeted professions. Each decree’s scope of application is read from its own procedural guide and is never carried across.

When does decree 77050 start to apply?

Its grace period is six months and it applies from 31 May 2026, and its date in its guide is 9/6/1447 AH · 30 November 2025. The grace period in these decrees is the period between the date of publication of the ministerial decision and the date of its application and enforcement. The length differs by decree: the marketing and sales decrees each have a three-month grace period.

What number is the 70% calculated on in the procurement professions decree?

This decree is one of the cross-cutting decrees, and in that family the denominator is the workers in the professions the decree names, not the establishment’s total headcount. Some activity decrees calculate on total headcount, among them the decree on the retail outlets of seven economic activities (208819) and the decree on real-estate activities and professions, so each decree’s denominator is read from its own guide.

How is the fraction rounded in calculating the procurement professions Saudization percentage?

The rounding rule in the procurement guide is: 0.49 and below rounds to zero, and 0.5 and above rounds to 1. So an entity with 3 workers in procurement professions: 70% of 3 is 2.1, giving 2. An entity with 5 workers in procurement professions: 70% of 5 is 3.5, giving 4. These two examples show the denominator and the rounding; they do not show the effect of a wage condition and they settle no date.

Does decree 77050 set a wage floor for a Saudi to count toward the percentage?

This guide did not find a wage floor in the procurement professions guide. That is an absence from the reading, not a denial that a condition exists: it may not be said that this decree carries no wage condition, nor may the marketing professions floor (SAR 5,500) be carried over to it because the two decrees share a threshold. The matter is to be referred to the procedural guide and the competent authority.

Statutory references

This article rests on the procedural guide for the procurement professions localisation decree (77050) published by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, on the signed ministerial decision attached to it, and on the FAQ sections in this family’s guides concerning the definition of the entity, the grace period, the rounding rule and the higher-percentage rule. The percentages, denominators and scopes of the other decrees cited for comparison are read from their own guides. Decisions 141612, 75913, 44558 and 112377 are named here as references and not read as texts, so nothing is asserted about their content.

And on the schedule of violations and penalties page published by the ministry, for the fact that the schedule carried there today is decision 112377.

Dates are taken from the sources without conversion in either direction, in both calendars where both exist. Hijri dates are printed as the sources print them; Gregorian dates are written out in full. No wage floor not read from this decree’s guide is published in this article, no fine amount attributed to it, and no particular profession placed inside its table of targeted professions. Decrees that are updated from year to year should have their dates re-checked from their page at the ministry before anything is built on them.

Subjects that border this decree and are not settled in this article: the contributions recorded against a worker with the General Organization for Social Insurance, and the contribution rates applied to a registered wage; the Saudi Unified Classification of Occupations, from which the profession codes are drawn; and the Nitaqat calculation, which is the subject of the Nitaqat calculator. None of these is read from this decree’s guide, and none of them is a source for the localisation percentage stated here.

This article is a regulatory explanation and not legal advice. In a live dispute or a particular case, the statutory text and the competent authority remain the reference.