Statizoid

Life expectancy in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: Life expectancy was 78.73 years in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
78.73 years
Change on year
up 1.8%
World rank
68th
of 236 countries
All-time high
78.75 years
in 2018
All-time low
40.02 years
in 1950
Years of data
74
1950–2023

Life expectancy in Saudi Arabia, 1950–2023

020406080195019862023

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.

Life expectancy in Saudi Arabia, year by year

Year years Change
1950 40.02 years —
1951 40.55 years +1.3%
1952 41.07 years +1.3%
1953 41.58 years +1.2%
1954 42.09 years +1.2%
1955 42.6 years +1.2%
1956 43.13 years +1.2%
1957 43.66 years +1.2%
1958 44.2 years +1.2%
1959 44.75 years +1.2%
1960 45.31 years +1.2%
1961 45.88 years +1.3%
1962 46.47 years +1.3%
1963 47.09 years +1.3%
1964 47.73 years +1.4%
1965 48.44 years +1.5%
1966 49.19 years +1.5%
1967 49.99 years +1.6%
1968 50.86 years +1.7%
1969 51.77 years +1.8%
1970 52.73 years +1.8%
1971 53.73 years +1.9%
1972 54.74 years +1.9%
1973 55.77 years +1.9%
1974 56.78 years +1.8%
1975 57.78 years +1.8%
1976 58.78 years +1.7%
1977 59.75 years +1.6%
1978 60.69 years +1.6%
1979 61.52 years +1.4%
1980 62.44 years +1.5%
1981 63.25 years +1.3%
1982 64.01 years +1.2%
1983 64.72 years +1.1%
1984 65.39 years +1.0%
1985 66.03 years +1.0%
1986 66.65 years +0.9%
1987 67.24 years +0.9%
1988 67.81 years +0.9%
1989 68.36 years +0.8%
1990 68.87 years +0.8%
1991 69.34 years +0.7%
1992 69.8 years +0.7%
1993 70.21 years +0.6%
1994 70.59 years +0.5%
1995 70.94 years +0.5%
1996 71.29 years +0.5%
1997 71.62 years +0.5%
1998 71.96 years +0.5%
1999 72.29 years +0.5%
2000 72.61 years +0.4%
2001 72.95 years +0.5%
2002 73.3 years +0.5%
2003 73.66 years +0.5%
2004 74.03 years +0.5%
2005 74.4 years +0.5%
2006 74.76 years +0.5%
2007 75.07 years +0.4%
2008 75.3 years +0.3%
2009 75.45 years +0.2%
2010 75.62 years +0.2%
2011 75.81 years +0.3%
2012 76.09 years +0.4%
2013 76.52 years +0.6%
2014 77.12 years +0.8%
2015 77.78 years +0.9%
2016 78.35 years +0.7%
2017 78.72 years +0.5%
2018 78.75 years +0.0%
2019 78.31 years -0.6%
2020 77.6 years -0.9%
2021 77.09 years -0.7%
2022 77.31 years +0.3%
2023 78.73 years +1.8%

Saudi Arabia compared with similar countries

  • Saudi Arabia's 78.73 years is below the median for high income countries, which is 81 years, 97% of the median. (85 countries reporting)
  • Saudi Arabia's 78.73 years is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 76.51 years, 1.0× the median. (23 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest 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

  1. 65 Estonia 79.15 years compare
  2. 66 Northern Mariana Islands 78.81 years compare
  3. 67 New Caledonia 78.77 years compare
  4. 69 Poland 78.63 years compare
  5. 70 Wallis and Futuna 78.63 years compare
  6. 71 Croatia 78.58 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More health data for Saudi Arabia

All data for Saudi Arabia →

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.

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Life expectancy in Saudi Arabia. Statizoid, drawing on Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 22 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/life-expectancy/saudi-arabia/

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About this data

Indicator
Life expectancy
Unit
years
Source
Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 19,452 data points, 1543–2023
Last refreshed

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.