Saudi ride-hailing enjoys prosperous summer

Reuters/Ahmed Yosri

• Nearly 52m trips in nine months
• One third of Saudis use service
• 260,000 Saudis work in sector

A busy summer for drivers has brought a 41 percent increase from the second quarter to the third in the number of trips facilitated through ride-hailing apps in Saudi Arabia.

In the first nine months of the year more than 51.8 million ride-hailing trips were taken, an increase of 12 percent over last year, statistics from the Transport General Authority show.

The trips were provided through the 46 apps that are licensed for ride-hailing services in the kingdom, the TGA said. 

Riyadh was the most popular province for ride-hailing, accounting for 39 percent of total trips.

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Mecca and the Eastern Region were next in popularity, with 25 percent and 16 percent respectively. 

Saudi drivers working in the industry earned more than SAR1.1 billion ($293 million) in the first nine months of 2024, the TGA said. 

The TGA encouraged young Saudis to take up opportunities in the industry and avail of financial support from the Human Resources Development Fund (Hadaf). The support provides subsidies for Saudis at a rate of 40 percent of their income, not exceeding SAR2,400 a month, for those who operate certain trips during peak times.

More than 260,000 Saudi citizens work in the ride-hailing sector, according to Al Arabiya TV. 

In 2021 the Ministry of Transport approved 100 percent Saudisation in ride-hailing services. At the time, just 4 percent of the drivers were foreigners. 

Statista, the German data gathering platform, estimates that Saudi ride-hailing market user penetration – the percentage of the population that uses the service – will be 33.5 percent this year and will grow to 41.1 percent by 2029, reaching 16.45 million users.