General Organization for Social Insurance

The General Organization for Social Insurance is a Saudi government body responsible for applying the provisions of the Social Insurance Law in the Kingdom. Its insurance umbrella covers workers in the public and private sectors, and it delivers its services through the pensions branch and the occupational hazards and additional compensation branch. [1][6][10]

The Organization's board of directors is chaired by the Minister of Finance, and in 2019 the Organization was elected a member of the executive bureau of the International Social Security Association, represented by its governor. [8][7]

In December 2017, the Organization's board of directors issued decisions approving amendments and additions to the registration and contributions bylaw of the Social Insurance Law. These included registering the cash housing allowance at the value agreed between the employer and the subscriber, and defining the contribution year as the year for which the contribution is paid, beginning 1 January 2018. [5]

In June 2022, amendments were approved to several articles of the Civil Retirement Law, the Social Insurance Law and the benefits exchange law. They included an amendment to Article Twenty-Three calculating the lump-sum benefit at 14% of the annual wage for each year of service, and 10% for each year credited toward retirement where service ends by resignation or dismissal for a disciplinary reason. They also allowed a retirement pension for those whose service ends before they reach the age of sixty. [3]

A Council of Ministers decision merged the Public Pension Agency into the General Organization for Social Insurance in June 2021, as part of uniting efforts in similar areas of competence, making use of financial and human resources to develop services and raise performance efficiency, and unifying the insurance protection umbrella for the public and private sectors. [2]

The two organizations explained that the merger is an administrative and organizational measure with no effect on the mechanism or the dates of disbursing insurance entitlements or retirement pensions, and no effect on the payment of contributions or on the conduct of operations and transactions, with services continuing through the usual service channels and under the same procedures. [2]

The Council of Ministers approved the new Social Insurance Law, which applies only to newly employed civilians in the public and private sectors who have no previous contribution periods under the Civil Retirement Law or the Social Insurance Law, while the provisions of the two existing laws continue to apply to current subscribers, with the exception of the provisions relating to the statutory retirement age and the qualifying period for entitlement to a retirement pension before reaching that age. [1]

The statutory retirement age for the covered categories is between 58 and 65 Gregorian years, with a gradual increase beginning with four months added to the current statutory age based on the subscriber's age, and the contribution period required for early retirement is between 25 and 30 years of contribution, with a gradual increase beginning with 12 months added to the current period. [1]

The new law and the provisions relating to the statutory retirement age and the qualifying periods for entitlement to a pension took effect on 27 Dhu al-Hijjah 1445 AH (3 July 2024), a path that strengthens the social protection system within the targets of Saudi Vision 2030. [1]

The Social Insurance Law allows several categories of Saudi citizens to subscribe voluntarily to the pensions branch. A voluntary subscriber may choose one of the monthly income brackets on which the contribution is calculated, which begin at 1,200 riyals and extend to 45,000 riyals and number 40 brackets, and pays 18% of the chosen bracket each month, benefiting from a retirement or disability pension, while family members benefit from the pension in the event of death. [4]

The law granted a female subscriber the right to a retirement pension on reaching the age of fifty-five instead of sixty if she has a contribution period of no less than 120 months. A beneficiary of a family members' pension — the widow, the daughter, the son's daughter or the sister — receives a marriage grant on marriage equal to 18 times her monthly share, and is re-included among the beneficiaries if she divorces or is widowed. [6]

The law also gave the sons and daughters of a subscriber, male or female, in the event of the death of both, the right to combine the insurance entitlements due from their father and mother under both branches — pensions and occupational hazards — whether the compensation takes the form of monthly pensions or lump-sum amounts, in line with the controls set by the law. [6]

On 1 July 2025 the Organization began applying the maternity compensation benefit within the package of amendments approved by the new Social Insurance Law. It is a cash compensation paid to every female subscriber in the occupational hazards and additional compensation branch on childbirth, at 100% of the average monthly wage subject to contribution during the 12 months preceding the birth, and for 3 months extendable, provided that the subscriber is in employment at the time of birth and has a contribution of no less than 12 months, continuous or interrupted, during the last 36 months before the birth. It is a benefit that reinforces the objectives of the Quality of Life Program. [10]

The number of subscribers in employment at the end of the Hijri year 1425 AH reached more than 2,738,658 male and female subscribers, and the number of registered establishments reached more than 103,985. [4]

In February 2022 the General Organization for Social Insurance launched its digital platform “Ta'minati A'mal” under the patronage of the Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Organization's board of directors, Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan. The platform enables an employer or an establishment supervisor to complete the registration of the establishment, amend it or close its activity, add the employment contracts of subscribers, update the data of their contribution periods and their wages, and report work injuries, claims and compensation for treatment costs. [8]

The Organization announced the “Compliance Index” service, directed at employers and establishments to help them achieve insurance compliance, distinguish establishments with a high level of compliance and raise awareness among those with low compliance, and its digital transformation efforts brought it first place in the 2024 Digital Transformation Measurement Index issued by the Digital Government Authority, an achievement within the government digital transformation track, one of the pillars of the National Transformation Program. [9]

The General Organization for Social Insurance, represented by its governor Sulaiman bin Abdulrahman Al-Quwaiz, was elected a member of the executive bureau of the International Social Security Association for the next three years, during the thirty-third edition of the International Social Security Forum hosted in Belgium from 14 to 18 October 2019, with the participation of more than a thousand administrative leaders, decision-makers and experts from 150 countries. [7]

In July 2026 the Organization launched an awareness campaign to strengthen understanding of the concept of insurance protection and its role in preserving the rights and benefits of subscribers and encouraging them to verify their contributions and the accuracy of their data so as to ensure their entitlement to insurance benefits. The campaign carries the slogan “We Are With You” and targets final-year university students, recent graduates and holders of new subscriptions, and is carried out through social media platforms and on the ground in partnership with government and educational bodies and private-sector companies. [11]

Q: What is the new Social Insurance Law and whom does it cover? A: A law approved by the Council of Ministers, applied only to newly employed civilians in the public and private sectors who have no previous contribution periods, while the provisions of the two existing laws continue to apply to current subscribers, with the exception of the provisions on the statutory retirement age and the qualifying periods for entitlement to a pension. [1]

Q: What is the statutory retirement age and the contribution period required for early retirement? A: The statutory age is between 58 and 65 Gregorian years, with a gradual increase beginning with four months based on the subscriber's age, and the contribution period for early retirement is between 25 and 30 years, with a gradual increase beginning with 12 months. [1]

Q: How did the merger of the Public Pension Agency into the Social Insurance Organization affect services? A: It is an administrative and organizational measure with no effect on the mechanism or the dates of disbursing entitlements or pensions and no effect on the payment of contributions, and services continue through the usual channels. [2]

Q: What is the maternity compensation benefit and what are its conditions? A: A cash compensation paid to every female subscriber on childbirth at 100% of the average monthly wage for 3 months extendable, provided that she is in employment at the time of birth and has a contribution of no less than 12 months during the last 36 months before the birth. [10]

Q: What is the “Ta'minati A'mal” platform and what does it offer? A: A digital platform launched by the Organization to manage the registration of establishments, the contracts of subscribers, the updating of wages and the reporting of work injuries, claims and compensation for treatment costs. [8]

The path of the General Organization for Social Insurance combines the development of insurance regulations and standards with the expansion of subscriber benefits and the unification of the protection umbrella for the public and private sectors, alongside a digital transformation that has raised the efficiency of its services and its standing in government performance indicators. [2][6][10][1]

Related topics include Saudi Vision 2030, the Quality of Life Program, the National Transformation Program and the Saudi Central Bank.