Starting a business - Score in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: Starting a business - Score was 93.14 in 2019. ▲ Rising
Starting a business - Score in Saudi Arabia, 2003–2019
Source: World Bank.
Analysis
Saudi Arabia recorded 93.14 for starting a business - score in 2019. That is the highest value across all 17 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 16.3% on the previous year and up 27.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, starting a business - score in Saudi Arabia peaked at 93.14 in 2019 and was at its lowest, 20.82, in 2003.
That places Saudi Arabia 38th out of 191 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 17 years of available data.
Starting a business - Score in Saudi Arabia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 20.82 | — |
| 2004 | 21.53 | +3.4% |
| 2005 | 22.41 | +4.1% |
| 2006 | 28.89 | +28.9% |
| 2007 | 71.79 | +148.5% |
| 2008 | 73.32 | +2.1% |
| 2009 | 73.11 | -0.3% |
| 2010 | 72.82 | -0.4% |
| 2011 | 73 | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 73.98 | +1.3% |
| 2013 | 73.86 | -0.2% |
| 2014 | 74.03 | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 74.39 | +0.5% |
| 2016 | 75.36 | +1.3% |
| 2017 | 80.04 | +6.2% |
| 2018 | 80.07 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 93.14 | +16.3% |
Saudi Arabia compared with similar countries
- Saudi Arabia's 93.14 is above the median for high income countries, which is 91.07, 1.0× the median. (62 countries reporting)
- Saudi Arabia's 93.14 is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 87.84, 1.1× the median. (23 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Starting a business - Score in Saudi Arabia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | +148.5% | 28.89 | 71.79 |
| 2006 | +28.9% | 22.41 | 28.89 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 44.55 | 20.82 | 73.32 | 7 |
| 2010s | 77.07 | 72.82 | 93.14 | 10 |
Countries ranked near Saudi Arabia
More private sector data for Saudi Arabia
- Merchandise trade 44.2% (2025)
- Food imports 13.0% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 70.5% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 254.06 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 1.9% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 15.9% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 310.67 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 8,403 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2433 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 1.69 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is starting a business - score in Saudi Arabia?
- Starting a business - score in Saudi Arabia was 93.14 in 2019, according to the World Bank.
- What is the highest starting a business - score recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The highest recorded value was 93.14 in 2019.
- What is the lowest starting a business - score recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The lowest recorded value was 20.82 in 2003.
- How does Saudi Arabia rank for starting a business - score?
- Saudi Arabia ranks 38th out of 191 countries with data for 2019.
- Is starting a business - score rising or falling in Saudi Arabia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 27.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Saudi Arabia data come from?
- The figures come from the World Bank, published as part of Starting a business - Score. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
The score for starting a business is the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators: the procedures, time and cost for an entrepreneur to start and formally operate a business, as well as the paid-in minimum capital requirement.