Life expectancy in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: Life expectancy was 78.73 years in 2023. ▲ Rising
Life expectancy in Saudi Arabia, 1950–2023
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2023, life expectancy in Saudi Arabia stood at 78.73 years.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.8% on the previous year and up 2.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, life expectancy in Saudi Arabia peaked at 78.75 years in 2018 and was at its lowest, 40.02 years, in 1950.
That places Saudi Arabia 68th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 74 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 42.36 years | 40.02 years | 44.75 years | 10 |
| 1960s | 48.27 years | 45.31 years | 51.77 years | 10 |
| 1970s | 57.23 years | 52.73 years | 61.52 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 65.59 years | 62.44 years | 68.36 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 70.69 years | 68.87 years | 72.29 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 74.15 years | 72.61 years | 75.45 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 77.31 years | 75.62 years | 78.75 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 77.68 years | 77.09 years | 78.73 years | 4 |
Countries ranked near Saudi Arabia
- 65 Estonia 79.15 years compare
- 66 Northern Mariana Islands 78.81 years compare
- 67 New Caledonia 78.77 years compare
- 69 Poland 78.63 years compare
- 70 Wallis and Futuna 78.63 years compare
- 71 Croatia 78.58 years compare
More health data for Saudi Arabia
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 483.6 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 829 deaths (2100)
- Deaths in armed conflicts based on where they occurred 4 deaths (2026)
- Deaths in armed conflicts by region 4 deaths (2026)
- Age population, age 25, male, interpolated 389,292 (2025)
- Age population, age 25, female, interpolated 238,768 (2025)
- Age population, age 24, male, interpolated 357,256 (2025)
- Age population, age 24, female, interpolated 233,777 (2025)
- Age population, age 23, male, interpolated 328,127 (2025)
- Age population, age 23, female, interpolated 230,687 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is life expectancy in Saudi Arabia?
- Life expectancy in Saudi Arabia was 78.73 years in 2023, according to Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest life expectancy recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The highest recorded value was 78.75 years in 2018.
- What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The lowest recorded value was 40.02 years in 1950.
- How does Saudi Arabia rank for life expectancy?
- Saudi Arabia ranks 68th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
- Is life expectancy rising or falling in Saudi Arabia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Saudi Arabia data come from?
- The figures come from Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectancy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Period life expectancy is the number of years the average person born in a certain year would live if they experienced the same chances of dying at each age as people did that year.