Saudi Arabia: Battle-related deaths (number of people)

Key figures

Over five years it is down 18.18% from 11 in 2018 (3.93% a year on average, compounded). Since 1991 it is down 91.09% from 101 in 1991 (7.28% a year on average, compounded). The World Bank has no value for 20 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 39 in 2016 and the biggest yearly fall was 75 in 2017. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2023 the straight-line trend is downward, about 12.69 a year. A straight line explains 59% of the movement over 8 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

Closest to Saudi Arabia in the 2023 ranking

• Azerbaijan — 1st of 3: 442
• Armenia — 2nd of 3: 20

What this measures

Battle-related deaths are deaths in battle-related conflicts between warring parties in the conflict dyad (two conflict units that are parties to a conflict). Battle-related deaths refer to those deaths caused by the warring parties that can be directly related to combat. This includes battlefield fighting, guerrilla activities (e.g. hit and-run attacks/ambushes) and all kinds of bombardments of military bases, cities and villages etc. The target for the attacks is either the military forces or representatives for the parties, though there is often substantial collateral damage in the form of civilians being killed in the crossfire, indiscriminate bombings, etc. All fatalities, military as well as civilian, incurred in such situations are counted as battle-related deaths.

Limitations: While the best estimate for battle-related deaths is considered a conservative minimum, the high estimate may still undercount actual fatalities due to unreported events, and users are cautioned that the apparent precision of the numbers does not eliminate underlying uncertainty.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 13 values

Battle-related deaths (number of people) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 260 (2024)
• Algeria — 26 (2020)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 231 (2022)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 123 (2024)
• Iraq — 396 (2024)
• Israel — 21,440 (2024)
• Lebanon — 4,335 (2024)
• Libya — 2 (2024)
• Pakistan — 1,534 (2024)
• Syrian Arab Republic — 2,732 (2024)
• Yemen, Rep.

More public sector data for Saudi Arabia

• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 3.04 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current USD) — 83.18 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 311.93 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 6.48% (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) — 23.53% (2025)
• Armed forces personnel, total — 282,000 (2020)
• Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 1.92% (2020)
• Statistical performance indicators (SPI): Pillar 1 data use score (scale 0-100) — 80 (2024)
• Statistical performance indicators (SPI): Pillar 3 data products score (scale 0-100)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Saudi Arabia's battle-related deaths (number of people)?

9 in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1991?

It is down 91.09% from 101 in 1991 (7.28% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 120 in 2016 and the lowest 0 in 2020.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: UCDP Battle-related Deaths Dataset , Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), uri: https://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/, publisher: Uppsala University.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator VC.BTL.DETH, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: UCDP Battle-related Deaths Dataset , Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), uri: https://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/, publisher: Uppsala University Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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