Saudi Arabia Population

Saudi Arabia's fertility among its citizens has fallen dramatically toward the replacement level, a quiet revolution in a single generation. Yet its overall population is heavily shaped by millions of foreign workers, who make up a large share of residents and skew the age and sex balance toward young men. The Vision 2030 programme is partly a bet on putting a now better-educated young national population to work.

Saudi Arabia is the world's 47th most populous country, home to about 34.9 million people in 2026. In Western Asia, where it lies, that future is driven by fertility, longevity and the movement of people across its borders. Population density stands at about 16 people for every square kilometre of land.

Saudi Arabia is projected to keep growing until about 2100, when its population peaks at roughly 70.8 million before a gradual decline sets in, leaving it near 70.8 million by 2100. It is projected to pass the 50 million mark around 2056.

Fertility is around 2.31 births per woman, above the replacement level, which keeps natural growth positive for now. Immigration is a meaningful contributor, bringing in more people than leave in a typical year.

Half of Saudi Arabia is currently younger than about 30, but by 2100 the median age is projected to reach around 36, while life expectancy, near 79 years, keeps rising. That ageing slowly changes everything from the size of the workforce to the cost of care and pensions.

Read these numbers as the midpoint of a range. Under the UN's high and low fertility paths Saudi Arabia's 2100 population could land well above or below the figures here; the medium variant is simply the central case.