WESTERN ASIA

Saudi Arabia

Riyadh · pop. 35M · Arabic · Saudi riyal

Trajectories

economic complexity

#48

Sliding in the complexity rankings, from #37 in 1995.

2024 · 0.54

Harvard Growth Lab · thin line is the world’s median

the numbers30

when	value	change
1995	0.68
1996	0.61	−0.06 pts
1997	0.60	−0.02 pts
1998high	0.72	+0.13 pts
1999	0.59	−0.14 pts
2000	0.70	+0.12 pts
2001	0.68	−0.02 pts
2002	0.59	−0.09 pts
2003	0.57	−0.03 pts
2004	0.68	+0.11 pts
2005	0.72	+0.04 pts
2006	0.57	−0.14 pts
2007	0.59	+0.01 pts
2008low	0.42	−0.17 pts
2009	0.50	+0.08 pts
2010	0.55	+0.05 pts
2011	0.58	+0.03 pts
2012	0.47	−0.11 pts
2013	0.59	+0.12 pts
2014	0.57	−0.03 pts
2015	0.58	+0.02 pts
2016	0.54	−0.04 pts
2017	0.55	+0.01 pts
2018	0.65	+0.10 pts
2019	0.66	+0.01 pts
2020	0.65	−0.01 pts
2021	0.64	−0.01 pts
2022	0.57	−0.07 pts
2023	0.48	−0.09 pts
2024latest	0.54	+0.05 pts

economic momentum

$35.1K

Tripled since 2000. GDP per head in 2024, in current US dollars.

2024 · $35.1K

World Bank · thin line is the world’s median

the numbers35

when	value	change
1990	$11.1K
1991	$11.8K	+7.2%
1992	$11.7K	−1.0%
1993	$10.9K	−7.2%
1994	$10.6K	−2.6%
1995	$10.8K	+1.7%
1996	$11.5K	+6.4%
1997	$11.5K	+0.6%
1998low	$9,836	−14.8%
1999	$10.5K	+6.3%
2000	$11.7K	+12.1%
2001	$10.8K	−7.8%
2002	$10.6K	−2.0%
2003	$11.5K	+8.5%
2004	$13.2K	+14.5%
2005	$16.0K	+21.4%
2006	$17.6K	+9.9%
2007	$18.6K	+5.9%
2008	$22.3K	+20.0%
2009	$17.7K	−20.6%
2010	$22.0K	+24.3%
2011	$27.1K	+23.1%
2012	$28.7K	+5.9%
2013	$27.9K	−3.0%
2014	$27.8K	−0.2%
2015	$23.3K	−16.4%
2016	$22.3K	−4.3%
2017	$23.9K	+7.5%
2018	$29.4K	+22.7%
2019	$29.6K	+0.7%
2020	$24.3K	−17.7%
2021	$31.9K	+31.2%
2022high	$38.5K	+20.6%
2023	$36.2K	−6.1%
2024latest	$35.1K	−2.9%

prices

1.7%

A year’s rise in consumer prices, in 2024. The world’s median was 3.1%.

2024 · 1.7%

World Bank · thin line is the world’s median

the numbers35

when	value	change
1990	2.1%
1991	4.9%	+2.78 pts
1992	−0.1%	−4.94 pts
1993	1.1%	+1.13 pts
1994	0.6%	−0.49 pts
1995	4.9%	+4.30 pts
1996	1.2%	−3.65 pts
1997	0.1%	−1.16 pts
1998	−0.4%	−0.43 pts
1999low	−1.3%	−0.96 pts
2000	−1.1%	+0.21 pts
2001	−1.1%	0 pts
2002	0.2%	+1.37 pts
2003	0.6%	+0.37 pts
2004	0.5%	−0.10 pts
2005	0.5%	−0.04 pts
2006	2.2%	+1.73 pts
2007	4.2%	+1.96 pts
2008high	9.9%	+5.70 pts
2009	5.1%	−4.81 pts
2010	5.3%	+0.28 pts
2011	5.8%	+0.49 pts
2012	2.9%	−2.96 pts
2013	3.5%	+0.64 pts
2014	2.2%	−1.27 pts
2015	1.2%	−1.02 pts
2016	2.1%	+0.83 pts
2017	−0.8%	−2.89 pts
2018	2.5%	+3.30 pts
2019	−1.2%	−3.66 pts
2020	3.4%	+4.57 pts
2021	3.1%	−0.31 pts
2022	2.5%	−0.59 pts
2023	2.3%	−0.15 pts
2024latest	1.7%	−0.64 pts

demographic curve

2.3 children per woman

Near replacement (2.1): the population is stabilising. Fell from 7.1 in 1980.

2024 · 2.3

World Bank · thin line is the world’s median · rule marks replacement (2.1)

the numbers65

when	value	change
1960	7.6
1961	7.6	+0.1%
1962	7.6	0.0%
1963	7.7	+0.2%
1964high	7.7	+0.2%
1965	7.7	−0.2%
1966	7.7	0.0%
1967	7.7	0.0%
1968	7.6	−0.4%
1969	7.6	−0.4%
1970	7.6	−0.2%
1971	7.6	−0.4%
1972	7.5	−0.2%
1973	7.5	−0.7%
1974	7.4	−0.8%
1975	7.4	−0.8%
1976	7.3	−0.5%
1977	7.3	−0.5%
1978	7.3	−0.4%
1979	7.2	−0.5%
1980	7.1	−1.1%
1981	7.1	−1.1%
1982	7.0	−1.2%
1983	6.9	−1.5%
1984	6.8	−1.4%
1985	6.6	−1.9%
1986	6.5	−2.0%
1987	6.3	−2.7%
1988	6.2	−3.0%
1989	6.0	−2.8%
1990	5.8	−2.9%
1991	5.6	−2.8%
1992	5.5	−2.7%
1993	5.3	−3.0%
1994	5.2	−3.1%
1995	5.0	−3.4%
1996	4.8	−3.5%
1997	4.7	−3.2%
1998	4.5	−2.8%
1999	4.4	−3.8%
2000	4.2	−3.4%
2001	4.0	−5.8%
2002	3.7	−6.4%
2003	3.5	−6.6%
2004	3.3	−5.8%
2005	3.2	−3.2%
2006	3.2	+0.5%
2007	3.2	+0.3%
2008	3.1	−3.5%
2009	3.0	−4.0%
2010	2.8	−4.7%
2011	2.8	−0.4%
2012	2.8	−0.7%
2013	2.7	−4.0%
2014	2.7	+0.4%
2015	2.6	−1.9%
2016	2.6	+0.8%
2017	2.7	+0.8%
2018	2.7	0.0%
2019	2.5	−6.7%
2020	2.3	−8.8%
2021	2.2	−4.4%
2022low	2.1	−1.4%
2023	2.3	+6.5%
2024latest	2.3	+1.2%

Metrics

population

35M

42 of 176

REST Countries · UN data
gdp

$1.2T

17 of 170

World Bank · latest available
gdp per capita

$36,157

28 of 170

World Bank · latest available
military spending

$78B

5 of 151

SIPRI via World Bank
military % of gdp

7.3%

3 of 148

SIPRI via World Bank
area

2.1M km²

14 of 176

REST Countries
population density

17 /km²

149 of 176

zuhd — derived from population and area
life expectancy

78.7 yr

39 of 175

World Bank · latest available
internet access

100%

4 of 166

ITU via World Bank
co₂ per capita

18.5 t

6 of 163

World Bank · Climate Watch
urbanisation

85%

27 of 168

World Bank · UN DESA
fertility rate

2.3

74 of 168

World Bank · UN DESA
foreign-born share

40.3%

7 of 167

World Bank · UN DESA
remittances % of gdp

0.0%

154 of 155

World Bank · IMF BOP
r&d % of gdp

0.6%

57 of 123

UNESCO UIS via World Bank
researchers per million

1235

49 of 118

UNESCO UIS via World Bank
scientific articles / yr

24,595

21 of 168

NSF / World Bank
high-tech exports %

1%

140 of 153

World Bank · UN Comtrade
youth unemployment

10%

65 of 166

ILO via World Bank
adult literacy

98%

22 of 109

UNESCO UIS via World Bank
democracy (v-dem)

0.05

150 of 163

V-Dem via Our World in Data
clean government

59

34 of 164

Transparency International via Our World in Data
press freedom

62.7

153 of 163

RSF via Our World in Data
human development

0.900

31 of 164

UNDP via Our World in Data
refugees hosted

448

124 of 150

UNHCR via Our World in Data
refugees produced

2K

89 of 152

UNHCR via Our World in Data