Saudi Arabia: People & Society#
Population | 28,160,273 (July 2016 est.) note: immigrants make up more than 30% of the total population, according to UN data (2015) |
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Nationality | noun: Saudi(s) adjective: Saudi or Saudi Arabian |
Ethnic groups | Arab 90%, Afro-Asian 10% |
Languages | Arabic (official) |
Religions | Muslim (official; citizens are 85-90% Sunni and 10-15% Shia), other (includes Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh) (2012 est.) note: despite having a large expatriate community of various faiths (more than 30% of the population), most forms of public religious expression inconsistent with the government-sanctioned interpretation of Sunni Islam are restricted; non-Muslims are not allowed to have Saudi citizenship and non-Muslim places of worship are not permitted (2013) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 26.56% (male 3,835,472/female 3,644,041) 15-24 years: 18.85% (male 2,843,422/female 2,465,027) 25-54 years: 46.4% (male 7,401,654/female 5,663,769) 55-64 years: 4.86% (male 747,307/female 620,100) 65 years and over: 3.34% (male 478,244/female 461,237) (2016 est.) |
Dependency ratios | total dependency ratio: 45.9% youth dependency ratio: 41.7% elderly dependency ratio: 4.2% potential support ratio: 24% (2015 est.) |
Median age | total: 27.2 years male: 27.9 years female: 26.2 years (2016 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.46% (2016 est.) |
Birth rate | 18.4 births/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
Death rate | 3.3 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
Net migration rate | -0.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
Population distribution | historically a population that was mostly nomadic or semi-nomadic, the Saudi population has become more settled since petroleum was discovered in the 1930s; most of the economic activities - and with it the country's population - is concentrated in a wide area across the middle of the peninsula, from Ad Dammam in the east, through Riyadh in the interior, to Mecca-Medina in the west near the Red Sea |
Urbanization | urban population: 83.1% of total population (2015) rate of urbanization: 2.1% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.) |
Major urban areas - population | RIYADH (capital) 6.195 million; Jeddah 4.076 million; Mecca 1.771 million; Medina 1.28 million; Ad Dammam 1.064 million (2015) |
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: 1.31 male(s)/female 55-64 years: 1.21 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.05 male(s)/female total population: 1.19 male(s)/female (2016 est.) |
Maternal mortality rate | 12 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.) |
Infant mortality rate | total: 13.6 deaths/1,000 live births male: 15.6 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 75.3 years male: 73.2 years female: 77.4 years (2016 est.) |
Total fertility rate | 2.11 children born/woman (2016 est.) |
Contraceptive prevalence rate | 23.8% (2007) |
Health expenditures | 4.7% of GDP (2014) |
Physicians density | 2.49 physicians/1,000 population (2012) |
Hospital bed density | 2.1 beds/1,000 population (2012) |
Drinking water source | improved: urban: 97% of population rural: 97% of population total: 97% of population unimproved: urban: 3% of population rural: 3% of population total: 3% of population (2015 est.) |
Sanitation facility access | improved: urban: 100% of population rural: 100% of population total: 100% of population unimproved: urban: 0% of population rural: 0% of population total: 0% of population (2015 est.) |
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate | NA |
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | NA |
HIV/AIDS - deaths | NA |
Obesity - adult prevalence rate | 33.7% (2014) |
Education expenditures | 5.1% of GDP (2008) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 94.7% male: 97% female: 91.1% (2015 est.) |
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) | total: 16 years male: 17 years female: 15 years (2014) |
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 | total: 30.4% male: 21.4% female: 57.9% (2014 est.) |