RIYADH — Children and youth represent 67 percent of the Saudi population in the current year, according to the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). Young Saudis in the age group of 15-34 years make up 36.7 percent of the Kingdom's total population, the authority said in a special report titled "Report of Saudi youth in numbers," released on Sunday to mark the World Youth Day 2020, which falls on Wednesday Aug. 12. The report includes population, social, economic, educational, health, cultural and recreational statistics of the Saudi youth. Saudi Arabia's total population is estimated at 34.8 million including 10.5 million foreigners. "The majority of young men in the age group of 20-24 years represent 27.6 percent while the percentage of young women in the age group of 20-24 and 25-29 years is 26.2," the report said. GASTAT statistical report said the percentage of unmarried young men and women in the age group of 15-34 years was 66.23 whereas unmarried young men represent 75.6 percent of whom 50.4 percent are in the age group of 15-34 years while the percentage of unmarried females in the age group of 25-34 was 43.1. The percentage of married women was 34.3 while divorced women in this age group constitute 1.27 percent, and the percentage of widows was 0.5 percent, the report showed. The report indicated that the ratio of Saudi youth in the age group of 15-34 years suffering from chronic diseases constitute 5.5 percent of the total Saudi population of which the percentage of men and women reached 5.8 and 5.2 respectively. The report also showed that most Saudi women practice sports to improve their health but as for men, they practice it for physical fitness and recreation. Illiteracy rate has significantly declined among young Saudis in the age group of 15-34 years during the decade from 2007 to 2017, and this decrease is attributed to the decline in the illiteracy rate of women in particular, the report pointed out. The report showed a majority of Saudi youth are not facing any difficulties during their learning journey, with an almost equal number between men and women, which is about 68 percent. Moreover, the transition rate in secondary education for Saudis in 2019 was 99.8 percent. The report confirmed that in 2019, the number of employed Saudi youth, whose ages ranged between 15 and 34 years, reached 1,489,520, representing around 47 percent of the total number of Saudi employees. It is worth mentioning that GASTAT is the only official reference body for statistical data and information in the Kingdom. It carries out all the statistical work and is responsible for the technical supervision of the statistical sector, design and implementation of field surveys, conducting statistical studies and research, analyzing data and information, and all the works of documenting and preserving information as well as statistical data that cover all aspects of life in the Kingdom from its multiple sources. It is also responsible for codifying, classifying, analyzing and extracting its statistical indicators.
