Share of population living in urban areas in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: Share of population living in urban areas was 83.6% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of population living in urban areas in Saudi Arabia, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Saudi Arabia recorded 83.6% for share of population living in urban areas in 2020.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in urban areas in Saudi Arabia peaked at 83.7% in 2015 and was at its lowest, 50.5%, in 1950.
Saudi Arabia ranks 61st of 236 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 51.4% | 50.5% | 52.3% | 2 |
| 1960s | 55.4% | 54.3% | 56.5% | 2 |
| 1970s | 60.7% | 59.0% | 62.5% | 2 |
| 1980s | 67.5% | 65.3% | 69.8% | 2 |
| 1990s | 75.2% | 73.5% | 76.9% | 2 |
| 2000s | 80.2% | 79.1% | 81.3% | 2 |
| 2010s | 83.1% | 82.5% | 83.7% | 2 |
| 2020s | 83.6% | 83.6% | 83.6% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Saudi Arabia
- 58 Guam 84.5% compare
- 59 Afghanistan 84.4% compare
- 60 Netherlands 84.3% compare
- 62 China 83.6% compare
- 63 Sao Tome and Principe 83.4% compare
- 64 India 83.4% compare
More reference data data for Saudi Arabia
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.6025 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.988 °C (2026)
- Spring temperature anomalies -0.1508 °C (2026)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.9644 °C (2025)
- Universal right to vote 0 (2025)
- Universal right to vote in practice 0 (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.5548 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 138.56 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 0 (2025)
- Elected parliament 0 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living in urban areas in Saudi Arabia?
- Share of population living in urban areas in Saudi Arabia was 83.6% in 2020, according to European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population living in urban areas recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The highest recorded value was 83.7% in 2015.
- What is the lowest share of population living in urban areas recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The lowest recorded value was 50.5% in 1950.
- How does Saudi Arabia rank for share of population living in urban areas?
- Saudi Arabia ranks 61st out of 236 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population living in urban areas rising or falling in Saudi Arabia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Saudi Arabia data come from?
- The figures come from European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population living in urban areas. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Estimated share of the population living in urban areas (the sum of cities and towns and suburbs). Urban areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.