Population of Saudi Arabia

According to the CIA World Factbook, Saudi society is classified among the young societies, where 22.9% of the total population is under the age of fifteen, according to 2023 estimates. 72.7% of the population falls in the age group (15-64 years) and those who have reached the age of 65 or over constitute 4.4% of the total population.

The 2018 Family Health Survey results revealed the total fertility rate of all women in the age group (15-49), reaching 1.92 births per woman, while the total fertility rate for Saudi women was (2.33) births per woman.

As for the average life expectancy at birth, the population in Saudi Arabia was estimated at around 77.2 years in 2024 AD (75.6 years for males, 78.8 years for females), according to the CIA World Factbook.

Historically, the Saudi population has been predominantly nomadic or semi-nomadic, and they have become more stable since the discovery of oil in the 1930s. Most of the economic activities – and with it the country’s population – are concentrated in a wide area across the middle of the peninsula, from Dammam in the east, passing through Riyadh in the interior, to Makkah Al-Mukarramah – Medina in the west near the Red Sea.

Due to the vast area of ​​the country (2.15 million km2), Saudi Arabia is one of the least populated countries globally, and in 2021 it recorded 17 people / km2. The urbanization rate is 1.69% (2020-25), and the Kingdom’s population is distributed geographically into 13 administrative regions. Five regions accounted for about 80% of the total population of the Kingdom, according to 2019 estimates. Total population, respectively.

Muslims in prayer around the Kaabah in Mecca / Photo ShutterstockThe overwhelming majority (90 percent) of the native population of Saudi Arabia is Arab. Some Saudis are of mixed ethnic origin, being descendants of Turks and Iranians. Around 10 percent have an African or Asian (Indonesian or Indian) background, most of whom immigrated as pilgrims and resided in the Hijaz region along the Red Sea coast.

Since the oil boom in the 1970s, many non-nationals, including Arabs from nearby countries, and significant numbers of Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Indonesians, Filipinos, and Westerners, are employed in the kingdom. Most of them work in the oil and construction industries as teachers, computer technicians, consultants, and domestic workers.

The Ministry’s move is seen as a positive step to protect migrant workers’ rights. Yet, according to Human Rights Watch, Saudi Arabia would also have to amend its Residency Law to remove the system’s risks fully. Migrant workers’ residency permits are linked to their employer’s residency, requiring them to obtain permission from their employer (who is considered their sponsor) to change jobs or leave the country. The private employment agencies, which the workers’ sponsorship would be transferred to, also pose a risk to workers since such agencies do not have a clean record.

Human Rights Watch has documented cases in which existing Saudi employment agencies have abused migrant workers, from deception about employment contracts and refusal to help workers leave employers to physical abuse. While recruitment agencies are not allowed to charge workers any fees, there have been cases in which agencies have violated this rule but were not penalized.

Saudi Arabia’s population is Muslim: 85-90 percent are Sunni, the remaining 10-15 percent are Shiite. Sunnis adhere to an ultra-orthodox branch of Islam, generally known as Wahhabism.

The branch takes its name from the alim (cleric) Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, who was born in 1703 in the village of Uyayna in Najd. Throwing in his lot with the emir of the neighbouring oasis al-Diriya, Muhammad ibn Saud, the Wahhabi faith spread across the Arab Peninsula in the wake of the military expansion 18th century.

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s followers actually call themselves Muwahhidun (Unitarians), ‘those who believe in the unity of God’ (tawhid). At its core, Wahhabism strives towards a strict observance of the doctrine of the first Muslims, the Salaf, rigorously abandoning unorthodox practices which have been embraced by Muslims over time (such as the reverence of holy men).

Based on a ruling issued by the Prophet Muhammad, Wahhabism does not tolerate any other religion besides Islam in the land where it was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.

The Wahhabis activities have also put severe pressure on the position of the Shiites in Saudi Arabia. The Wahhabis regard Shia Islam as heresy and strove against the Shiites from the early days, often with violence. Since Sunni Islam is the only publicly-observed religion in Wahhabi-controlled territory, public displays of faith by Shiites were long forbidden and suppressed. Nowadays, these are tolerated to a certain extent. Shiites nonetheless remain second-class citizens in their own country.

Public display of faith of non-Muslim migrants (mainly Christians and Hindus) by a summons to prayer or having a space for worship is prohibited by law. Many non-Muslims can, however, observe their religious practices in their private houses or residential compounds.

Saudi Arabia is one of the top migrant destinations worldwide, preceded only by the United States and Germany. Most of the migrants in Saudi Arabia are from South and East Asian countries. United Nations records show that, between 2005 and 2010, the net number of migrants residing in Saudi Arabia was 1,055,000.

The total number of migrants recorded from 1950 to 2010 was approximately 6,237,000. Reports also indicated that there are 13 million immigrants on the Kingdom’s territory in 2020 and 10.9 million in 2023.

Many immigrants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia explain the high rate of remittances sent by migrant workers to their countries, and Saudi Arabia began implementing programs to localize jobs, including entire sectors that expatriate workers controlled, to reduce unemployment rates and provide job opportunities for Saudi youth.

In March 2021, Saudi Arabia began implementing reforms in labor contracts related to foreign workers, which ended the sponsorship system’s work for decades, such as regulating the relationship between employers and old workers from outside the country.

Among the most prominent reforms introduced by the new system is abolishing the requirement that a sponsor is present to enter the country and work in it. Also, the new system abolished the authority granted to the employer in terms of insurance and residency renewal and his ability to cancel work permits at any time he wanted.

Remittances from foreign residents living in Saudi Arabia increased by 19.25% during the year 2020 AD, to reach $ 39.92 billion, compared to about $ 33.47 billion during 2019.

Remittances from Saudi Arabia during the year 2020 AD contradicted the bank’s expectations of a decrease in remittances from workers abroad around the world due to several main factors, namely weak economic growth rates, employment in host countries of immigrants, declining oil prices, and the depreciation of the currencies of the countries sending remittances against the US dollar.