SAU · Arabian Peninsula
Saudi Arabia
Top global crude oil exporter, custodian of the Holy Places. Vision 2030 economic diversification plan and assertive cultural/sporting soft power.
Data refreshed on 2026.10.08 · source: Wikidata
Points to watch 2026.10.09
- Context
-
Context
Not free according to Freedom House (score 9/100). Freedom House 2025
Drawn automatically from the file's layers, sources shown; no hand-written text. JSON
The Institute's composite reading
Vigilance
4.0 /10 risk
- Security 2.0
- Legitimacy 2.2
- Economy 7.5
- Diplomacy 7.3
- Influence 5.0
Security: 0 stable → 10 unstable · others: 0 weak → 10 strong. Computed from V-Dem, FH, CPI, RSF, World Bank, SIPRI, sanctions.
UN list of 2026.10.07: 14 people and 0 entities linked to the country by nationality or a known address. Regime: ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida.
Listings linked to the country by nationality or address: United States 73 (list of 2026.10.02), United Kingdom 35 (list of 2026.10.07), EU 17 (list of 2026.09.22).
- Capital
- Riyadh
- Population
- 36,000,000 inh.
- Area
- 2,149,690 km²
- Currency
- SAR
- Regime
- Absolute monarchy
Executive in office
Head of State
Salmane ben Abdelaziz Al Saoud
Government in office 5 members
Ministre saoudien des Affaires étrangères
Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud
Minister of Investment
فهد آل سیف
Minister of National Guard
Abdullah bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Minister of State
Bandar Alkhorayef
liste des Premiers ministres d'Arabie saoudite
Mohammed ben Salmane ben Abdelaziz Al Saoud
Economic indicators World Bank · 2025
GDP
1.28 T$
GDP / capita
34,537 $
Growth
4.5 %
Inflation
2.1 %
Unemployment
3.0 %
Defense / GDP
7.3 %
Life expectancy
79.0 yrs
Military bases Institute · Wikipedia
active rotational or scaled down uncertain closed or handed over foreign base on national soil
Register kept by the Institute, updated 2026.10.08; coordinates and links read from Wikipedia.
Foreign bases on national soil 1
-
1
Prince Sultan Air Base
United States of America · Al-Kharj
US forces returned in 2019 after leaving in 2003.
Military capabilities Wikipedia · IISS Military Balance résumés
Active
257 000
Reserve
25 000
Paramilitary
100 000
Land
- 442 M1A2S Abrams Char (US)
- 380 M2 Bradley VCI
- 290 AMX-30 Char (FR, ancien)
Air
- 152 F-15S/SA Strike Eagle Chasseur
- 71 Eurofighter Typhoon Chasseur
- 81 Tornado IDS Chasseur
Naval
- 3 Frégate classe Al-Riyadh (FREMM-équiv. fr) Frégate
- 4 Frégate classe Al-Madinah Frégate
- 4 Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC, USA) Frégate (en livraison)
Armed forces 6 units listed · Wikidata
Show the 6 units · raw Wikidata list, which does not always flag a disbanded unit
Commandement
Military region of Saudi Arabia
Régiment
أفواج الحرس الوطني
Escadron aérien
No. 50 Squadron RSAF
Escadron aérien
No. 80 Squadron RSAF
District militaire
Military Western Region
District militaire
région militaire de l'Est
Nuclear posture
Capacité latente potentielle
« Si l'Iran obtient l'arme, nous suivrons » (MBS, 2018)
Strategic chokepoints 1 control point(s)
- borde (rive est) Bab el-Mandeb Pipeline est-ouest contournement
Governance indices V-Dem 2025 · Freedom House 2026 · CPI 2025 · RSF 2026
Democracy (V-Dem)
0.02/1
Freedoms (Freedom House)
9/100
Corruption (CPI)
57/100
Press freedom (RSF)
19/100
Military posture SIPRI · 2025
Global spending rank
#7
Annual budget
81.5 Md$
Defense effort
6.5 %PIB
Trade dependencies OEC · UN Comtrade · 2023
Exports
322 Md$
Imports
192 Md$
Balance
130 Md$
Top exports
- 67.0% Pétrole brut 216 Md$
- 8.0% Pétrole raffiné 26 Md$
- 6.0% Pétrochimie + plastiques 19 Md$
Top imports
- 9.0% Voitures + pièces 17 Md$
- 4.0% Médicaments 8 Md$
- 4.0% Téléphones + électronique 8 Md$
Export partners
-
Chine
16.0%
-
Inde
12.0%
-
Japon
11.0%
-
Corée du Sud
9.0%
-
États-Unis
5.0%
Import partners
-
Chine
21.0%
-
États-Unis
9.0%
-
Émirats arabes unis
7.0%
-
Allemagne
5.0%
Diplomatic alignment UNGA 2020-2024 · Bailey-Strezhnev-Voeten
Vote concordance with each power at UN General Assembly.
-
USA
50%
-
GBR
51%
-
FRA
53%
-
DEU
53%
-
RUS
53%
-
CHN
71%
-
IRN
58%
Abstention: 21%
Key treaties UN Treaty Collection · IAEA · ICRC · OPCW
-
✓
NPT
-
✗
CTBT
-
✗
TPNW
-
✗
Rome Statute
-
✓
Genocide
-
✓
Geneva
-
✗
Ottawa Mine Ban
-
✗
Oslo Cluster Munitions
-
✗
Arms Trade Treaty
-
✓
Paris Agreement
Bilateral visits, last 24 months Wikipedia · communiqués officiels
Outgoing visits
-
2025-03-03
États-Unis · Bilatéral
MBS-Trump · investissements 600 G$
Incoming visits
-
2025-05-13
Trump · accord sécurité + IA
-
2024-12-04
Lavrov · OPEP+
Society · human UNDP HDI 2023 · World Bank · WID · UNHCR 2025
HDI
0.9/1
Top 10% (wealth)
56.5 %
Gini
45.9
Refugees hosted
448
Refugees originating
2,368
Disputed recognitions curé éditorial · UN Member States
Recognizes
- Palestine
Does not recognize
- Israël
- Kosovo
National anthem
Aash Al Maleek
Alliances and organisations Institut · Wikidata
- OPEP
- G20
- BRICS+
- OCI
- Conseil de coopération du Golfe
- UN
- WTO
- Arab League
- GCC
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Global attention Wikipedia · 90 days
The country's Wikipedia article is usually read 6,986 times a day (French and English). On 2026.10.07: 472, or ×0.7.
French + English French usual level 2026.07.10 · 2026.10.07 Wikimedia statistics (CC0), human users
Sources and freshness
- Executive, government, parliament, anthem · Wikidata (CC0) · 2026-10-08
- Economy · World Bank (CC BY 4.0) · 2025
- Indices and figures · V-Dem 2026 (OWID) · Freedom House 2026 (OWID) · Transparency International CPI 2025 · RSF 2026 · PNUD IDH 2025 (OWID) · UNHCR 2025 · SIPRI 2026 (OWID) · read on 2026-10-08
- Memberships · Wikidata (CC0) · 2026-10-08
- UN sanctions · Security Council consolidated list · list of 2026-10-07 · read on 2026-10-08
- Sanctions · US Treasury (OFAC), SDN and non-SDN lists · list of 2026-10-02 · read on 2026-10-08
- Sanctions · United Kingdom, UK Sanctions List (FCDO) · list of 2026-10-07 · read on 2026-10-08
- Sanctions · European Union, consolidated financial sanctions list · list of 2026-09-22 · read on 2026-10-08
- Institute dossier (sanctions, treaties, visits, capabilities) · as of 2026-05-01