Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The number of girls born in the Kingdom has increased by 2 million since 2010, according to the Central Department of Statistics and Information. Saudi society has more men than women, more boys than girls, however during the past decade the number of newborn girls has been steadily increasing, a department source said. "Experts predict that the number of girls in the Kingdom might exceed the number of boys in the future. The difference in the number of the two genders is only 95,000. Ten years ago the difference was 147,000," said the source. He also said the number of non-Saudi men is much higher than the number of non-Saudi women in the Kingdom. "There are more than 10 million non-Saudis in the Kingdom. Only 3.2 million of them are women," said the source. The source also said Saudi women have been moving forward since women education opened up in the 70s. "Most women in the Kingdom have at least a high school education. In 2009, Nourah Al-Faiz was assigned by a royal decree to be the Deputy Minister of Education making her reach the highest government position for women to date. The late King Abdullah had also assigned 30 women as members of the Shoura Council in 2013," said the source. The source also said many Saudi women were sent on scholarships abroad to pursue higher studies. The latest achievement of Saudi women is their election to 21 municipal council seats. A royal decree allowing women to vote was issued to encourage women to be involved in politics.
