Saudi Arabia: Research and development expenditure (% of GDP)

Key figures

Since 2003 it is up 0.57 percentage points from 0.06% in 2003. The World Bank has no value for 6 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2024, Saudi Arabia's research and development expenditure (% of GDP) rose 0.14 percentage points on 2023 (from 0.49% to 0.64%).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2023), the average change was +0.06 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.23 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.81 percentage points in 2010 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.08 percentage points in 2021. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

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

How it compares

In 2024, Saudi Arabia had the 6th highest value of the 25 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 2024 ranking

• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 3rd of 25: 1.02%
• Serbia — 4th of 25: 0.94%
• Russian Federation — 5th of 25: 0.94%
• Belarus — 7th of 25: 0.59%
• Cuba — 8th of 25: 0.44%
• Oman — 9th of 25: 0.39%

What this measures

Gross domestic expenditures on research and development (R&D), expressed as a percent of GDP. They include both capital and current expenditures in the four main sectors: Business enterprise, Government, Higher education and Private non-profit. R&D covers basic research, applied research, and experimental development.

Limitations: Estimates of the resources allocated to R&D are affected by national characteristics such as the periodicity and coverage of national R&D surveys across institutional sectors and industries; and the use of different sampling and estimation methods. R&D typically involves a few large performers, hence R&D surveys use various techniques to maintain up-to-date registers of known performers, while attempting to identify new or occasional performers. R&D totals from SNA accounts may differ from these estimates, due in part to the different treatments of software R&D in the totals.

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

All 16 values

Research and development expenditure (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 1.02% (2024)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 0.73% (2021)
• Iraq — 0.04% (2021)
• Israel — 6.35% (2023)
• Kuwait — 0.09% (2024)
• Malta — 0.65% (2023)
• Oman — 0.39% (2024)
• Pakistan — 0.16% (2023)
• Tunisia — 0.75% (2019)

More infrastructure data for Saudi Arabia

• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 302,451 (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 1,037 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 47.98 million (2023)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 6.71 million (2024)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 19.75 (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 54.18 million (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 159.54 (2024)
• Medium and high-tech exports (% manufactured exports) — 35.4% (2024)
• Patent applications, nonresidents — 4,921 (2024)

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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Questions people ask

What is Saudi Arabia's research and development expenditure (% of GDP)?

0.64% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2003?

It is up 0.57 percentage points from 0.06% in 2003. The highest value was 0.89% in 2011 and the lowest 0.04% in 2005.

How does Saudi Arabia rank?

6th highest of 25 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in research and development expenditure (% of GDP) unusual for Saudi Arabia?

In 2024, Saudi Arabia's research and development expenditure (% of GDP) rose 0.14 percentage points on 2023 (from 0.49% to 0.64%). Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2023), the average change was +0.06 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.23 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Stat Bulk Data Download Service, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://databrowser.uis.unesco.org/resources/bulk, publisher: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), date accessed: 2025-03-26, date published: 2025-02 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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