Nomad Watch
SA

Saudi Arabia

SA · SAU · #12 · 18 cities

Nomad score 53/100 Compare

Governance at a glance

Government
Unitary Islamic absolute monarchy
UN member
Yes
Independent
Yes
CPI score (2026)
57/100
Press freedom (2025)
27.9/100 #162
Electoral democracy (2025)
0.016
HDI
0.900
Regional blocs
AL

Government and leaders

Government type
Unitary Islamic absolute monarchy
Leaders
TitleName
King of Saudi ArabiaSalman of Saudi Arabia
Crown Prince of Saudi ArabiaMohammed bin Salman

Safety and security

Homicide rate (2019)
0.9/100k
Traffic deaths (2019)
35.9/100k
Military spending (2024)
7.3% of GDP

Corruption perceptions index

CPI score (2026)
57 / 100
Interpretation
Moderate corruption
Source: Transparency International / Corruption Insights API. Higher scores = less corruption.

Democracy index

Electoral (2025)
0.016
Liberal
0.047
Participatory
0.026
Deliberative
0.072
Egalitarian
0.113
Source: V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy), CC-BY-SA. Scale: 0 (least democratic) to 1 (most democratic).

Press freedom index

Overall score (2025)
27.9 / 100
Global rank
#162 / 180
Rank change
+4 vs previous year
RSF zone
MENA
Political #158
23.8
Economic #86
42.3
Legal #167
21.4
Social #168
28.5
Safety #169
23.7
Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Higher scores = better press freedom. Five dimensions of press freedom tracked over time. Scores before 2013 used a different RSF scale (lower was better) and are not shown.

Press freedom historical data

Press freedom historical data
Year Score Rank Political Economic Legal Social Safety
2025 27.9 162 23.8 42.3 21.4 28.5 23.7
2024 27.1 166 21.0 40.4 20.4 30.1 23.8
2023 32.4 170 37.2 33.3 21.7 30.1 39.8
2022 33.7 166 37.3 33.7 22.4 36.5 38.8
2021 37.3 170 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable 28.9
2020 37.9 170 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable 33.7
2019 34.1 172 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable 100.0
2018 36.9 169 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable 36.9
2017 34.0 168 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable 38.4
2016 40.3 165 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable 67.8
2015 40.6 164 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable 44.0
2014 41.7 164 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable
2013 43.1 163 Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable Data unavailable
Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Index, 0-100 scale (higher is better). Scores before 2013 used a different RSF scale (lower was better) and are not shown.

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