Interesting Facts

• Saudi Arabia has a young and growing population with 47% being under 24 years old and 5% over 60 years’ old
• In order to diversify its economy Saudi Arabia is building 6 economic cities that are expected to add 100 billion dollars to its GBP
• Saudi Arabia is the birth place of Islam and home of Mecca and Medina
• It is the largest country in the world without a river

Key Market Alerts

• Saudi laws and moral standards are considerably stricter than those of other countries and in certain cases, notably involving dress, drink, moral behavior and mixing with unrelated members of the opposite sex, what is not a crime in your country could possibly be treated as a crime in Saudi Arabia.
• Rentals in Saudi Arabia are usually pad annually or biannually in advance

An Overview of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is located in Southwest Asia, probably a detached fragment of the African continent. It is the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula with an area of 865,000 square miles. To the west is the Red Sea and to the east, the Arabian Gulf. The northern frontier separates the Kingdom from Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait while to the south and southeast are Yemen, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. In addition, the King Fahd Causeway connects Saudi Arabia with the island nation of Bahrain.

The 2006 global demographics showed population estimated to be over 27 million; including about 5.5 million resident foreign workers from countries all over the world including Pakistan, India, the Philippines, Jordan, Egypt, The Sudan, Yemen, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States.

Living in Saudi Arabia

Living in a compound in Saudi Arabia feels at times like staying in a holiday resort as many things are taken care of for you. The infrastructure is in place from the very first day you arrive: the maintenance team caters to many of your household needs, private buses take children to school and back. Buses and compound drivers offer daily shopping tours for ladies.

One of the best aspects of compound life is the easygoing, friendly, helpful, family atmosphere awaiting you there. A sense of community is ubiquitous there (unlike some other parts of the world).

Women are only allowed to drive within the compound walls. Pets are allowed in some compounds.

Housing in Saudi Arabia

Cities with the highest percentage of expatriate population are: Riyadh, the capital, Jeddah on the Red Sea and an agglomeration of cities in the Eastern Province consisting of Dammam, Dhahran, Al –Khobar and Jubail.

Housing for expatriates is mostly available in compounds (gated communities) with different levels of security.

Most of those compounds offer a variety of accommodations, mostly furnished, starting from one bedroom apartments to 4 – 5 bedroom villas.

The compounds are usually well equipped, offering all the basics such as different sports facilities (swimming pools, tennis courts, and recreation centers), grocery stores, hair salons, movie theatres, restaurants, and more.

Annual rent prices range from 80,000 SAR for a one-bedroom apartment to 450,000 SAR for a 4-bedroom villa.

Schooling in Saudi Arabia

State schools are free for Saudi nationals, but the children of expatriates are not eligible to enter state schools. There are a number of private international schools in all three major regions of Saudi Arabia, based on British or American education systems, as well as French, German, Swedish, Indian and Philippino schools. International school fees are relatively high.