Saudi Census 2022: Population of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Reaches 32 Million, 58.4% Saudis and 41.6% Non-Saudis

Key Findings of the Saudi Census 2022

Today, Wednesday, the General Authority for Statistics announced that the population of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has reached 32,175,224 people, according to key findings of the Saudi Census 2022, published by the Authority on its website web of the census.

The results indicated that the number of Saudis reached 18.8 million, or 58.4%, while the number of non-Saudis reached 13.4 million, or 41.6%. It indicated that the number of males has reached 19.7 million, or 61%, while the number of females has reached 12.5 million, or 39%. The population in the regions of Riyadh, Makkah Al-Mukarramah and the province Eastern Europe accounted for 68% of the total population of the Kingdom.

Population Demographics and Housing

Riyadh is also the largest city in Saudi Arabia in terms of population, followed by Jeddah, Makkah, Madinah and Dammam.

The Kingdom is notable for its young population since age media of the population has reached 29 years, the age media of Saudis has reached the age of 25 and the percentage of Saudis under the age of 30 has reached 63% of the total number of Saudis, while the number of homes in the Kingdom has exceeded 8 million, of which 51% are apartments.

With regards to household composition, the census results showed that the total number of Saudi households amounts to 4.2 million households, with a household size media equal to 4.8 members per family.

The dimension media of non-Saudi family members was 2.7 members per household and the proportion of males reached 76% of the total non-Saudis in the Kingdom.

Importance of Census Results for Decision Makers

For his part, Minister of Economy and Planning, Chairman of the Board of the General Authority for Statistics, Faisal bin Fadel Al-Ibrahim, said the census was completed through the highest levels of coordination and complementary work with various government agencies.

The minister stressed the importance of the 2022 Saudi census results, which have been announced. It will provide an accurate statistical database that will be used as a reliable basis to formulate economic and social policies, support decision makers in developing development plans for various sectors, measure the performance of government agencies and make local, regional and international comparisons with accuracy and transparency, as well as providing the private sector and local and international investors with accurate data to encourage a healthy environment to invest in the Kingdom, in in line with the objectives and indications of Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

Census Methodology

For his part, the head of the General Authority for Statistics, Dr. Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Dosari, said the authority followed international best practices and made use of the latest technologies in implementing the 2022 Saudi census, such as satellites and auto-counting technology, in how much modern methods have been used to issue statistical data, through cooperation with the authorities. Integration and fusion between administrative register data and census statistical data, to produce accurate and reliable data.

Al-Dossary explained that, in line with international best practice, and given the development and change in the methodology used in the implementation of the 2022 census compared to the 2010 census, the authority reassessed the population numbers in previous years based on the 2022 Saudi census results, in how much is the most accurate basis for the data, and through comparison and integration with government administrative records data.

Demographic Growth

Compared to the 2010 census, the total population increased from 24 million in 2010 to 32.2 million in 2022, with an average annual growth rate of 2.5%, while the number of Saudis increased from 14 million to 18.8 million, an overall increase of 4.8 million The number of non-Saudis also rose from 9.9 million to 13.4 million, an overall increase of 3.5 million.

The announcement of the 2022 Saudi census results included detailed data for three main axes: demographics, households and housing, while results related to education, health, work and income, immigration and diversity will be announced in the coming months.