Expats Are 78% of Saudi Arabia's Employed Workforce
Expatriates hold 14.8 million of the 19.03 million jobs recorded in Saudi Arabia at the end of 2025 — 78% of all employment. The share is higher today than when Saudisation was relaunched, and this analysis explains the arithmetic behind why.
Hajj 2026 by the Numbers: 1,707,301 Pilgrims, and No Published Death Toll
Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Statistics put Hajj 1447 AH at 1,707,301 pilgrims — 1,546,655 international, 160,646 domestic, 47.7% women, 165 nationalities. This page sets out the verified 2026 figures, the eight-year series behind them, and why no consolidated death toll has been published for 2026 or 2025.
Riyadh vs Dubai: What It Actually Costs to Live and Work in Each
Riyadh is cheaper than Dubai for almost every household, by 12 to 21 per cent of gross pay on a modelled net-income comparison of three profiles. The gap is almost entirely housing; schooling runs the other way. Every assumption is stated, and so is the five-year Riyadh rent freeze that no cost comparison carries.
Saudi Arabia's Divorce Rate: What 12.6% and 65% in the First Year Actually Measure
Saudi Arabia's divorce rate is quoted as 12.6%, as 38% and as 4.3%, and all three are defensible because they measure different things. GASTAT's own publications document a period ratio, a population rate and a prevalence share. The widely circulated 12.6% figure reconciles with none of them.
Saudi Arabia's Fertility Rate Is 2.0. For Saudi Nationals It Is 2.7, and Nobody Planned for Either.
Saudi Arabia's fertility rate is quoted as 2.0 and as 2.31. GASTAT measures Saudi nationals at 2.7 births per woman and non-Saudi residents at 0.8, so the below-replacement headline describes the resident population, not the citizen population. This page reconciles the sources and traces the Vision 2030 consequences.
Saudi Household Debt: 1.6 Million Collection Cases and SAR165bn Unpaid
Saudi courts registered 1.6 million enforcement requests covering SAR165bn of unpaid obligations in 2025. The borrowing mix has shifted from assets to consumption, and the enforcement ladder is where the strain becomes visible.
Saudi Obesity Rate: The Official Figure Is 23%. Independent Estimates Say 43%.
The official Saudi Arabia obesity rate is 23.1% of those aged 15 and over, from GASTAT's self-reported 2024 survey. Independent measured and modelled estimates run from 33% to 46%. This page reconciles every published figure and sets out which one to cite for what.
GASTAT — General Authority for Statistics (Saudi Arabia)
GASTAT is Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Statistics — the sole official statistical reference for all economic, social, and environmental data in the Kingdom, the institutional source of every Vision 2030 KPI tracking metric. Established 1960 as the Central Department of Statistics and Information, transformed into GASTAT in 2015, hosting the 6th UN World Data Forum in Riyadh November 2026.
Population of Saudi Arabia
Overview of Saudi Arabia's population of approximately 36 million, demographic breakdown, youth bulge, urbanization rates, and implications for Vision 2030.