Demographics of Saudi Arabia

This article is about the people inhabiting Saudi Arabia. For people of ethnic Saudi Arabian origin, see Saudi Arabian people.

Demographics of Saudi Arabia
Saudi traders.
Population	27,345,986 (2014 January)
Growth rate	1.49% (2014)
Birth rate	18.78 births/1,000 population (2014)
Death rate	3.32 deaths/1,000 population (2014)
Life expectancy	74.82 years
• male	72.79 years
• female	76.94 years (2014)
Fertility rate	2.17 children born/woman (2014)
Infant mortality rate	14.58 deaths/1,000
Age structure
0–14 years	27.6%
15–64 years	69.2%
65 and over	3.2%
Sex ratio
At birth	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.05 male(s)/female
15–64 years	1.22 male(s)/female
65 and over	1.08 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	noun: Saudi(s) adjective: Saudi
Major ethnic	Saudis
Language
Spoken	Arabic

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Saudi Arabia, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population.

Demographics of Saudi Arabia, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

Saudi Arabia's population as of the April 2010 census was 27,136,977: 18,707,576 Saudi nationals and 8,429,401 non-nationals. About 51% of the population is under the age of 25 (as of Feb 2012). Until the 1960s, most of the population was nomadic or seminomadic; due to rapid economic and urban growth, more than 95% of the population is now settled. 80% of Saudis live in three major urban centers—Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam. Some cities and oases have densities of more than 1,000 people per square kilometer (2,600/mile²). Saudi Arabia's population is characterized by rapid growth and a large cohort of youths.

Saudi Arabia hosts one of the pillars of Islam, which obliges all Muslims to make the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, at least once during their lifetime if they are able to do so. The cultural environment in Saudi Arabia is highly conservative; the country adheres to a strict interpretation of Islamic religious law (Sharia). Cultural presentations must conform to narrowly defined standards of ethics. Men and women are not permitted to attend public events together and are segregated in the work place.

Most Saudis are ethnically Arabs, the majority of whom immigrated as pilgrims and reside in the Hejaz region along the Red Sea coast such as Jeddah, Mecca and Medina. According to a random survey, most would-be Saudis come from the Subcontinent and Arab countries. Many Arabs from nearby countries are employed in the kingdom. There also are significant numbers of Asian expatriates, mostly from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was also a significant community of South Korean migrant labourers, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, but most have since returned home; the South Korean government's statistics showed only 1,200 of their nationals living in the kingdom as of 2005. There are more than 100,000 Westerners in Saudi Arabia, most of whom live in private compounds in the major cities such as Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dhahran. The government prohibits non-Muslims from entering the cities of Mecca and Medinah.

Vital statistics

UN estimates

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR1	CDR1	NC1	TFR1	IMR1
1950–1955	159 000	81 000	78 000	47.9	24.3	23.5	7.18	204.3
1955–1960	180 000	83 000	98 000	47.6	21.9	25.7	7.18	183.1
1960–1965	210 000	86 000	124 000	47.6	19.6	28.1	7.26	162.6
1965–1970	248 000	88 000	159 000	46.9	16.7	30.2	7.26	139.2
1970–1975	304 000	88 000	216 000	46.4	13.4	33.0	7.30	106.6
1975–1980	378 000	86 000	292 000	44.1	10.0	34.1	7.28	78.2
1980–1985	491 000	86 000	405 000	42.7	7.5	35.2	7.02	57.0
1985–1990	562 000	86 000	476 000	38.3	5.8	32.4	6.22	42.3
1990–1995	579 000	85 000	495 000	33.5	4.9	28.6	5.45	30.2
1995–2000	573 000	87 000	486 000	29.7	4.5	25.2	4.51	22.2
2000–2005	545 000	91 000	454 000	24.7	4.1	20.6	3.54	19.4
2005–2010	569 000	98 000	470 000	22.1	3.8	18.3	3.03	18.5
1 CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births

Births and deaths

Year	Population	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Rate of natural increase	TFR
2009		601 949	98 289					3,04
2010	27 136 977		100 073					2,98
2011			102 066					2,93
2012			104 195					2,87

Population statistics

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1950	3,121,000	—
1960	4,041,000	+29.5%
1970	5,772,000	+42.8%
1980	9,801,000	+69.8%
1990	16,139,000	+64.7%
2000	20,045,000	+24.2%
2010	27,448,000	+36.9%
2015	31,540,000	+14.9%
Source:

Saudi Arabia population density in 2010 (people per km²)

The following Saudi Arabia Census 2007

Young population

Estimates of the young population of Saudi Arabia vary. Carlye Murphy gives the figure of 51% of the population being under the age of 25 (as of February 2012). The Economist magazine estimates 60% of the Saudi population under the age of 21 (dated March 3, 2012).

Age structure

0–14 years: 32.4%

15–64 years: 64.8%

65 years and over: 2.8%

Total Population 23,980,834 (2007 Census Population)

Median age

total: 25.3 years

male: 26.4 years

female: 23.9 years (2011 est.)

Population growth rate

1.536% (2011 est)

Total fertility rate

2.26 children born/woman. (2012 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.15 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.33 male(s)/female
55–64 years: 1.2 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.08 male(s)/female
total population: 1.21 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total: 75.29 years male: 73.51 years female: 77.16 years (2011 est.) 

Urbanization

85% of total population (2011)

Nationality

noun: Saudi(s)
adjective: Saudi or Saudi Arabian

Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition of Saudi citizens is 90% Arab and 10% Afro-Asian. Most Saudis live in Hejaz (35%), Najd (28%), and the Eastern Province (15%).

Community	Description
Arabs	90%
Afro-Asians	10%

Foreigners

Saudi Arabia's Central Department of Statistics & Information estimated the foreign population at the end of 2014 at 33% (10.1 million). The CIA Factbook estimated that as of 2013 foreign nationals living in Saudi Arabia made up about 21% of the population. Other sources report differing estimates. Indian: 1.3 million, Pakistani: 1.5 million, Egyptian: 900,000, Yemeni: 800,000, Bangladeshi: 500,000, Filipino: 500,000, Jordanian/Palestinian: 260,000, Indonesian: 250,000, Sri Lankan: 350,000, Sudanese: 250,000, Syrian: 100,000 and Turkish: 100,000. There are around 100,000 Westerners in Saudi Arabia, most of whom live in compounds or gated communities.

Foreign Muslims who have resided in the kingdom for ten years may apply for Saudi citizenship. (Priority is given to holders of degrees in various scientific fields, and exception made for Palestinians who are excluded unless married to Saudi national, because of Arab League instructions barring the Arab states from granting them citizenship.)

As Saudi population grows and oil export revenues stagnate, pressure for "Saudization" (the replacement of foreign workers with Saudis) has grown, and the Saudi government hopes to decrease the number of foreign nationals in the country. Saudi Arabia expelled 800,000 Yemenis in 1990 and 1991. and has built a Saudi–Yemen barrier against an influx of illegal immigrants and against the smuggling of drugs and weapons. In November 2013, Saudi Arabia expelled thousands of illegal Ethiopians from the Kingdom. Various Human Rights entities have criticised Saudi Arabia's handling of the issue.

Religion

The government does not conduct census on religion, but estimates put the percentage of the majority Sunnis at 85–90% while Shiites, who comprise the largest Muslim minority, at 10–15% of the population. Shiites (Twelvers) are primarily concentrated in the Eastern Province, where they constitute over two-third of the population. Other smaller communities (Ismailis and Zaidis) reside in the south, with Ismailis constituting around half of the population of the province of Nejran, and a small percentage of the Holy Islamic cities of Mecca and Medina. There is also a Christian population of uncertain size.

Languages

The official language of Saudi Arabia is Arabic. The three main regional variants spoken by Saudis are Hejazi Arabic (about 6 million speakers), Najdi Arabic (about 8 million speakers), and Gulf Arabic (about 0.2 million speakers). Saudi Sign Language is the principal language of the deaf community. The large expatriate communities also speak their own languages, the most numerous of which are Tagalog (700,000), Rohingya (400,000), Urdu (380,000), and Egyptian Arabic (300,000).

External links

• International Religious Freedom Report 2010