RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's population has reached 27,136, 977, an increase from 2004 of almost 20 percent, according to preliminary results of April's census, which counted people and houses. The General Statistics and Information Department of the Ministry of Economy and Planning issued the report, which shows numbers by gender and nationality throughout the Kingdom and in administrative zones and provinces. The previous census, taken in Sept. 2004, determined that the country had 22,678,262 residents, 4,458,715 fewer people than the current population. The present census shows that the number of Saudis is 18,707,576, 68.9 percent of the population. The increase of 2,180,236 people reflects a 13.2-percent increase. The number of the Saudi men has reached 9,527,173, 50.9 percent of the population, and that the number of women has reached 9,180,407, 49.1 percent. The number of expatriate workers in the Kingdom reached 8,429,401 including 5,932,974 men, 70.4 percent, and 2,496,427 women, 29.6 percent, according to the report. The report indicates that 65.6 percent of the Kingdom's residents are in one of four areas: the Riyadh region, Makkah region, the Eastern Province and Madina region. The census found that four Saudi cities have more than one million residents: Riyadh, 5,194,230; Jeddah, 3,430,697; Makkah, 1,534,731; and Madina, 1,100,093. Five cities, Damman, Hafouf, Mebrez, Taif and Tabuk, have more than 500,000 residents. Cities with more than 100,000 residents are Buraidah, Khamis Mushait, Jubail, Hail, Najran, Hafr Al-Baten, Abha, Al-Saih, Yanbu, Al-Khobar, Arar, Onaiza, Sakaka, Al- Hawyia, Jizan, Dhahran, Qatif and Al-Qurayat. The census also found that there are 4,641,151 residential units in the Kingdom. The highest occupancy rates are in Makkah, Riyadh, the Eastern Province, Asir, Madina, Qassim, Jizan, Tabuk, Hail, Najran, Baha, Jouf and the Northern Frontier region.
