Number of airline passengers per year in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: Number of airline passengers per year was 47.98 million in 2023. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2023)
47.98 million
Change on year
up 65.4%
World rank
22nd
of 183 countries
All-time high
47.98 million
in 2023
All-time low
513,600
in 1971
Years of data
54
1970–2023

Number of airline passengers per year in Saudi Arabia, 1970–2023

010.0M20.0M30.0M40.0M50.0M197019962023

Source: International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

Saudi Arabia recorded 47.98 million for number of airline passengers per year in 2023. That is the highest value across all 54 years on record.

That represents a change of up 65.4% on the previous year and up 69.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of airline passengers per year in Saudi Arabia peaked at 47.98 million in 2023 and was at its lowest, 513,600, in 1971.

That places Saudi Arabia 22nd out of 183 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 2.79 million 513,600 7.69 million 10
1980s 10.14 million 9.15 million 11.37 million 10
1990s 11.40 million 9.41 million 12.33 million 10
2000s 15.19 million 12.57 million 17.51 million 10
2010s 32.25 million 20.32 million 46.18 million 10
2020s 31.84 million 20.97 million 47.98 million 4

Countries ranked near Saudi Arabia

  1. 19 Hungary 55.61 million compare
  2. 20 Vietnam 55.11 million compare
  3. 21 Thailand 51.92 million compare
  4. 23 Singapore 47.50 million compare
  5. 24 Malaysia 46.70 million compare
  6. 25 Austria 46.04 million compare

See the full ranking of 183 places →

More reference data data for Saudi Arabia

All data for Saudi Arabia →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of airline passengers per year in Saudi Arabia?
Number of airline passengers per year in Saudi Arabia was 47.98 million in 2023, according to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest number of airline passengers per year recorded in Saudi Arabia?
The highest recorded value was 47.98 million in 2023.
What is the lowest number of airline passengers per year recorded in Saudi Arabia?
The lowest recorded value was 513,600 in 1971.
How does Saudi Arabia rank for number of airline passengers per year?
Saudi Arabia ranks 22nd out of 183 countries with data for 2023.
Is number of airline passengers per year rising or falling in Saudi Arabia?
Over the last ten years it is up 69.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Saudi Arabia data come from?
The figures come from International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of airline passengers per year. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 54 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Number of airline passengers per year
Source
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
183 places, 7,925 data points, 1970–2023
Last refreshed

This represents the total rather than unique passenger activity: this means a person who makes multiple trips is counted multiple times.