Average age in Saudi is 29, as 2022 population hits 32.2m

Saudi Arabia’s population reached 32.2 million in 2022, with the majority of citizens and residents aged under 30 years old, according to the country’s general authority for statistics.

Saudis comprised 58.4 percent, or 18.8 million, of the total population, while 41.6 percent or 13.4 million, were non-Saudis, the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) said in a census report issued on Wednesday.

The median age of the total population stood at 29, while 63 percent of Saudi nationals were aged under 30.

The 2022 census, conducted in May 2022, was the fifth census in the country’s history. It was initially due to be carried out in 2020 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The number of males reached 19.7 million, constituting 61 percent of the total population, while females reached 12.5 million, representing 39 percent of the kingdom’s population.

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

The average age of Saudis was 25 years. The number of residential dwellings in the kingdom reached more than eight million, of which 51 percent are apartments.

“Its outputs will be a key pillar for planning and decision-making while supporting the investment environment in the kingdom,” minister of economy and planning Faisal Al-Ibrahim said of the census.

The results showed annual population growth since 2010 has been 2.5 percent on average, with the total population leaping 34.2 percent since that year.

Foreign residents, however, fell from a peak of 14.6 million in 2016 after the government began to impose new fees on relatives of foreign workers.