Saudi Arabia's population in largest city was 7.95 million in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 27.89% from 6.22 million in 2015 (2.49% a year on average, compounded).
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 7.95 million | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 7.23 million | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 6.22 million | 2015 |
| Highest | 7.95 million | 2025 |
| Lowest | 156,699 | 1960 |
| Average since 2016 | 7.27 million | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 156,699 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Saudi Arabia's population in largest city rose 1.7% on 2024 (from 7.82 million to 7.95 million).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +3.3% and a typical year strayed about 0.8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 12.5% in 1964. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is upward, about 164,340 a year. A straight line explains 99% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
A straight-line projection, tested first
Extending that straight line gives about 8.58 million for 2028. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2023 to 2025 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 199,535, against 280,414 for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.
See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.
How it compares
In 2025, Saudi Arabia had the 29th highest value of the 153 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
Closest to Saudi Arabia in the 2025 ranking
What this measures
Population in largest city is the urban population living in the country's largest metropolitan area.
Limitations: Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverage. There is no consistent and universally accepted standard for distinguishing urban from rural areas, in part because of the wide variety of situations across countries. Most countries use an urban classification related to the size or characteristics of settlements. Some define urban areas based on the presence of certain infrastructure and services. And other countries designate urban areas based on administrative arrangements.
All 66 values
| Year | Population in largest city |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 7,952,861 |
| 2024 | 7,820,551 |
| 2023 | 7,682,430 |
| 2022 | 7,538,200 |
| 2021 | 7,387,817 |
| 2020 | 7,231,447 |
| 2019 | 7,070,665 |
| 2018 | 6,906,595 |
| 2017 | 6,669,098 |
| 2016 | 6,439,767 |
| 2015 |
Population in largest city in nearby economies
- Afghanistan — 4.88 million (2025)
- Algeria — 3 million (2025)
- Bahrain — 743,066 (2025)
- Djibouti — 616,332 (2025)
- Egypt, Arab Rep. — 23.07 million (2025)
- Iran, Islamic Rep. — 9.73 million (2025)
- Iraq — 8.14 million (2025)
- Israel — 4.57 million (2025)
- Jordan — 2.27 million (2025)
- Kuwait — 3.41 million (2025)
- Lebanon — 2.38 million (2025)
More environment data for Saudi Arabia
- Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 25.42% (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million — 18.19 million (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 49.21% (2025)
- Rural population — 5.69 million (2025)
- Rural population (% of total population) — 15.39% (2025)
- Urban population — 31.28 million (2025)
- Urban population (% of total population) — 84.61% (2025)
- Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 161,883 (2024)
- Capture fisheries production (metric tons) — 85,324 (2024)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Saudi Arabia's population in largest city?
- 7.95 million in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1960?
- It is up 4,975% from 156,699 in 1960 (6.23% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 7.95 million in 2025 and the lowest 156,699 in 1960.
- How does Saudi Arabia rank?
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator EN.URB.LCTY, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Urbanization Prospects 2018, United Nations (UN), uri: https://population.un.org/wup/, publisher: UN Population Division, date published: 2018 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.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
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