The question
How many people live in each governorate? Are people spread evenly across the governorates, or concentrated in a few? And do the people living in a large governorate differ from those in a small one?
The figure
In the 2022 Census Saudi Arabia had 32,175,224 people, spread over 150 governorates in 13 regions.
Just five governorates hold 50.3% of the population: Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah, Dammam and Madinah. Riyadh governorate alone has 7,009,120 people, or 21.8% of Saudi Arabia’s population.
At the other end, 75 governorates, half of all governorates, each have fewer than 50,000 people, and together they hold 6.2% of Saudi Arabia’s population.
The smallest governorate in the census is Al-Shimasiyah in the Qassim region, with 7,818 people; so Riyadh governorate has about 896 times its population.
How are governorates spread by size?
6 governorates each have a million people or more, and they hold 53.8% of the population. And 37 governorates each have from 50,000 to under 100,000 people, holding only 7.9%.
The number of governorates differs between regions: the Riyadh region has 23 governorates, the Asir region 18, and the Al-Jouf and Northern Borders regions 4 each.
The ten largest governorates by population
The 10 largest governorates by population in the 2022 Census, and the share of Saudi Arabia’s population they hold together
| Governorate | Region | Population | Share of Saudi Arabia’s population | Running total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riyadh | Riyadh | 7,009,120 | 21.8% | 21.8% |
| Jeddah | Makkah | 3,751,722 | 11.7% | 33.4% |
| Makkah | Makkah | 2,427,924 | 7.5% | 41.0% |
| Dammam | Eastern Province | 1,532,326 | 4.8% | 45.8% |
| Madinah | Madinah | 1,477,047 | 4.6% | 50.3% |
| Al-Ahsa | Eastern Province | 1,104,267 | 3.4% | 53.8% |
| Taif | Makkah | 913,374 | 2.8% | 56.6% |
| Buraidah | Qassim | 677,647 | 2.1% | 58.7% |
| Al Khobar | Eastern Province | 658,550 | 2.0% | 60.8% |
| Tabuk | Tabuk | 623,665 | 1.9% | 62.7% |
Who lives in the governorate?
Non-Saudis are 41.6% of Saudi Arabia’s population, but their share varies a lot between governorates. In governorates that each have a million people or more they are 50.1% of the population, and in governorates that each have fewer than 50,000 people they are 21.2%.
In 7 governorates non-Saudis outnumber Saudis, and their highest share is in Al Khobar, at 68.2% of its population. The lowest share is in Al-Rayth in the Jazan region, at 5.5%.
Men are 61.2% of Saudi Arabia’s population, and their highest share is in Ras Tanura, at 73.8%.
What this means for your decision
This describes the 2022 Census; it is not a judgement on any governorate, nor a forecast of its population today.
- For anyone opening a business or offering a service outside the large governorates: half the governorates each have fewer than 50,000 people; so check your governorate’s population on its page before you estimate how many people you serve.
- For anyone serving a particular group: the share of non-Saudis is much higher in large governorates than in small ones; so look at your governorate’s make-up, not at the national figure.
- For researchers and journalists: a governorate is wider than a city; so do not quote a governorate’s figure as the city’s figure.
Analytical reading, not financial advice.
Full official figures: Governorates: the population of each governorate(Arabic) · Where do people live in Saudi Arabia? (reading)(Arabic) · All insights(Arabic)
Translated from the Arabic reading; the Arabic text is the original. The original reading(Arabic)