Saudi Arabia - Population, total

The value for Population, total in Saudi Arabia was 34,813,870 as of 2020. As the graph below shows, over the past 60 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 34,813,870 in 2020 and a minimum value of 4,086,534 in 1960.

Definition: Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.

Source: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2019 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Popu

See also:

Year Value
1960 4,086,534
1961 4,218,852
1962 4,362,788
1963 4,516,540
1964 4,677,304
1965 4,843,632
1966 5,015,353
1967 5,195,124
1968 5,387,822
1969 5,599,909
1970 5,836,388
1971 6,100,631
1972 6,392,973
1973 6,711,922
1974 7,054,532
1975 7,419,486
1976 7,802,928
1977 8,207,695
1978 8,646,845
1979 9,137,928
1980 9,691,471
1981 10,311,770
1982 10,988,850
1983 11,701,130
1984 12,418,840
1985 13,119,000
1986 13,794,170
1987 14,445,660
1988 15,070,080
1989 15,666,290
1990 16,233,790
1991 16,772,700
1992 17,282,690
1993 17,763,300
1994 18,214,480
1995 18,638,790
1996 19,033,840
1997 19,407,140
1998 19,783,300
1999 20,194,530
2000 20,663,840
2001 21,202,650
2002 21,805,320
2003 22,456,640
2004 23,132,690
2005 23,816,180
2006 24,498,310
2007 25,184,590
2008 25,888,540
2009 26,630,300
2010 27,421,470
2011 28,267,590
2012 29,154,910
2013 30,052,060
2014 30,916,600
2015 31,717,680
2016 32,443,440
2017 33,101,180
2018 33,702,760
2019 34,268,530
2020 34,813,870

Development Relevance: Increases in human population, whether as a result of immigration or more births than deaths, can impact natural resources and social infrastructure. This can place pressure on a country's sustainability. A significant growth in population will negatively impact the availability of land for agricultural production, and will aggravate demand for food, energy, water, social services, and infrastructure. On the other hand, decreasing population size - a result of fewer births than deaths, and people moving out of a country - can impact a government's commitment to maintain services and infrastructure.

Limitations and Exceptions: Current population estimates for developing countries that lack (i) reliable recent census data, and (ii) pre- and post-census estimates for countries with census data, are provided by the United Nations Population Division and other agencies. The cohort component method - a standard method for estimating and projecting population - requires fertility, mortality, and net migration data, often collected from sample surveys, which can be small or limited in coverage. Population estimates are from demographic modeling and so are susceptible to biases and errors from shortcomings in both the model and the data. In the UN estimates the five-year age group is the cohort unit and five-year period data are used; therefore interpolations to obtain annual data or single age structure may not reflect actual events or age composition. Because future trends cannot be known with certainty, population projections have a wide range of uncertainty.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Population estimates are usually based on national population censuses. Estimates for the years before and after the census are interpolations or extrapolations based on demographic models. Errors and undercounting occur even in high-income countries. In developing countries errors may be substantial because of limits in the transport, communications, and other resources required to conduct and analyze a full census. The quality and reliability of official demographic data are also affected by public trust in the government, government commitment to full and accurate enumeration, confidentiality and protection against misuse of census data, and census agencies' independence from political influence. Moreover, comparability of population indicators is limited by differences in the concepts, definitions, collection procedures, and estimation methods used by national statistical agencies and other organizations that collect the data. The currentness of a census and the availability of complementary data from surveys or registration systems are objective ways to judge demographic data quality. Some European countries' registration systems offer complete information on population in the absence of a census. The United Nations Statistics Division monitors the completeness of vital registration systems. Some developing countries have made progress over the last 60 years, but others still have deficiencies in civil registration systems. International migration is the only other factor besides birth and death rates that directly determines a country's population growth. Estimating migration is difficult. At any time many people are located outside their home country as tourists, workers, or refugees or for other reasons. Standards for the duration and purpose of international moves that qualify as migration vary, and estimates require information on flows into and out of countries that is difficult to collect. Population projections, starting from a base year are projected forward using assumptions of mortality, fertility, and migration by age and sex through 2050, based on the UN Population Division's World Population Prospects database medium variant.

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual

General Comments: Relevance to gender indicator: disaggregating the population composition by gender will help a country in projecting its demand for social services on a gender basis.

Classification

Topic: Health Indicators

Sub-Topic: Population