/

Saudi Arabia

Tier 2

Everything a marketer needs before entering Saudi Arabia: economy, platforms, ad rules, payments and audience.

Economy & income

1 USD = 3.75 SAR live rate
Currency
  • Saudi Riyal (SAR, ﷼/SR)
  • ~3.75 per USD (fixed USD peg since 1986; 2026)
GDP per capita
  • ~$34,540 nominal (World Bank, 2025 est; IMF WEO ~$35,460, 2025)
  • ~$73,780 PPP (World Bank, 2025)
  • Total GDP ~$1.28T nominal (2025)
Average salary
~$2,040 net/mo (SAR 7,664, Numbeo Jul 2026; no personal income tax so gross ≈ net for expats, slightly higher for Saudis paying ~10% GOSI)
Median salary
  • no official median
  • est. ~SAR 6,000-8,000/mo (~$1,600-2,130), below the mean (GASTAT mean wages run ~SAR 7,000-11,000 by nationality, 2024-2025)
Minimum wage
  • SAR 4,000/mo (~$1,067) for Saudi nationals under Nitaqat/Saudization (raised from SAR 3,000 in 2024)
  • NO statutory minimum wage for expatriate private-sector workers
Cost of living
  • Medium-High — Riyadh single ~SAR 3,292/mo (~$878) and family of four ~SAR 12,125/mo (~$3,233) excl. rent
  • 1-BR city-centre rent ~SAR 3,953/mo (~$1,054) (Numbeo, Jul 2026)
  • cheaper than Dubai, no income tax but 15% VAT

Digital landscape

Population
34.7 million (DataReportal, Oct 2025; GASTAT ~35.3M — ~44% expatriate, urban ~85%)
Internet users
99.0% (~34.4M users, Oct 2025 — near-universal)
Social media users
111% (~38.6M social media identities, Oct 2025; skews ~61% male, +17.7% YoY)
Mobile connections
48.7M cellular connections = 140% of population
Devices
mobile ~71.9% / desktop ~27.4% / tablet ~0.7% (StatCounter, Jun 2026)
Ad spend
  • Total ad market ~$6.23B (2025)
  • digital ad spend ~$4.01B (2025) growing ~16.8% to ~$4.68B (2026)
  • mobile ~51%, programmatic ~74% of digital
Top social platforms
TikTok ~38.6M ad reach, 18+ — unusually dominant
YouTube ~27.5M / 79.2% of pop
Snapchat ~25.3M — exceptionally strong in KSA
Instagram ~18.2M
Facebook ~17.7M
X/Twitter ~15.0M — high engagement
Messengers
  • WhatsApp (dominant, ~87% of social users)
  • Telegram (~60% / ~15.5M)
  • Snapchat (used heavily as a messenger)
  • Facebook Messenger (~11.1M reach)
  • imo / Botim (expat VoIP communities)
  • Instagram Direct

Ad regulations

Gambling & betting Banned

BANNED — all forms illegal under Sharia (offline and online); CITC blocks gambling/betting sites and apps, VPN circumvention also illegal; ads promoting gambling prohibited, fines up to SAR 5M

Crypto Restricted

RESTRICTED — not legal tender, no SAMA-licensed exchanges; SAMA warns institutions against dealing and lists virtual currencies as unregulated/high-risk; individual holding not explicitly criminalized; nationally-regulated stablecoin framework under development (SAMA/CMA, announced late 2025) plus CBDC pilots

Adult Banned

BANNED — pornography illegal; adult sites blocked by CITC; nudity/explicit content prohibited culturally and legally; even mainstream ads must avoid immodest imagery

Dating Restricted

RESTRICTED — culturally sensitive but liberalizing under Vision 2030; usage rising (Tinder and local apps like WhosHere; ~3.5M downloads/2025) though some apps historically blocked; ad creatives must be modest, no hookup/explicit framing

Finance & loans Allowed

ALLOWED — regulated by SAMA; large Sharia-compliant (Islamic) finance sector; consumer credit, licensed lenders and BNPL (Tabby/Tamara) widespread; interest (riba) framing sensitive; ad and disclosure rules apply

Nutra & pharma Restricted

RESTRICTED — SFDA (Saudi Food and Drug Authority) regulates medicines, supplements, food, cosmetics and devices; pre-approval required for health-product ads (among the most restrictive in the region); registration/import approval required

Regulators
  • General Authority for Media Regulation / GAMR (advertising & media)
  • CITC (internet/telecom filtering)
  • SAMA (finance/crypto)
  • SFDA (pharma/nutra/food/cosmetics)
Notes
  • Ads must respect Islamic values — no alcohol, pork, gambling, nudity/immodesty or LGBTQ content
  • Arabic-first creative expected
  • Ramadan sensitivity critical
  • paid influencer promotion requires a GAMR authorization ('Mawthooq' influencer licence)

Payments & behaviour

Payment methods
  • mada debit network (~93% of card payments, used by 70%+ of shoppers)
  • Apple Pay (very high adoption, via mada)
  • STC Pay & other wallets (~60% of online payments via wallets/instant rails)
  • Visa / Mastercard credit
  • BNPL — Tabby & Tamara (~10M users each, GCC)
  • Cash on delivery (declining)
E-wallets
  • STC Pay (~10M users, now a licensed digital bank)
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay (nationwide via mada, early 2025)
  • urpay
  • Barq
  • Tabby
  • Tamara
Cash on delivery
  • Declining fast — electronic payments reached 85% of retail transactions in 2025 (up from 79% in 2024)
  • COD still exists for some categories but is a minority
E-commerce
  • High and growing — e-commerce transactions >SAR 100B/yr (2025)
  • market >$12B (2026) growing ~20%+ annually
  • mada e-commerce hit SAR 30.7B in a single month (Oct 2025)
Notes
  • mada acceptance is effectively mandatory for merchants
  • STC Pay is the leading wallet
  • BNPL is exploding
  • SARIE instant bank transfers common
  • card+wallet+BNPL stacks lift checkout completion

Audience & culture

Languages
  • Arabic (official, near-universal)
  • English (business & expat lingua franca)
  • Urdu (large expat community)
  • Tagalog (Filipino workers)
  • Bengali
  • Malayalam / Hindi (South Asian expats)
Religion
  • Islam is the official religion (~93% Muslim)
  • among citizens ~85-90% Sunni, ~10-12% Shia
  • non-Muslim public worship prohibited
  • small expat Christian/Hindu communities
Median age
29.6 years (DataReportal, Oct 2025 — young population)
Key seasons
  • Ramadan (dates shift ~11 days/yr; peak commercial season, night-active)
  • Eid al-Fitr & Eid al-Adha
  • Hajj season (pilgrimage, Mecca/Medina)
  • Riyadh Season (entertainment festival, ~Oct-Mar)
  • Saudi National Day (23 Sep) & Founding Day (22 Feb)
  • White/Yellow Friday (Nov) & back-to-school (Aug-Sep)
Cultural notes
  • Conservative Islamic norms but rapidly liberalizing under Vision 2030 (cinema, concerts, women driving/working — female labour participation ~36%)
  • Ramadan reshapes timing (daytime fasting, very active post-iftar nights)
  • weekend is Fri-Sat
  • keep creative modest and Arabic-first
Where to find creators
  • Snapchat
  • TikTok
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • X/Twitter

Media landscape

Top media outlets

  1. 1 Arab News English daily (est. 1975) — the Kingdom's largest English paper, SRMG-owned, state-aligned
  2. 2 Asharq Al-Awsat (الشرق الأوسط) Arabic pan-Arab daily — Saudi-owned (SRMG), printed on four continents, influential
  3. 3 Sabq (سبق) Arabic digital-native news portal — one of the most-visited Saudi news sites
  4. 4 Okaz (عكاظ) Arabic daily — high-circulation, popular general/politics/sports coverage
  5. 5 Al Riyadh (الرياض) Arabic daily (Al-Yamama Press) — long-running, Riyadh-based broadsheet
  6. 6 Saudi Gazette English daily (est. 1976) — Jeddah-based, business & national news

Top YouTube channels

  1. 1 AboFlah (أبو فلة) ~50M
  2. 2 Rotana (روتانا) ~27M
  3. 3 SHoNgxBoNg ~17M
  4. 4 Saud Brothers ~12M
  5. 5 Mjrmgames (Rayan Al-Ahmari) ~10M
  6. 6 Abdullah Aldulaijan (Topz) ~9M

Creators & public figures

Top creators

Ahmad Al Shugairi ~17M Instagram
Instagram/YouTubeMedia/inspirational (Khawater, sustainability) — huge trust, brand-safe
M
Model Roz (Roz) ~14M
InstagramFashion/beauty model — Saudi-American, strong brand-collab appeal
S
SHoNgxBoNg ~17M YouTube
YouTube/TwitchGaming & live-streaming — top Saudi streamer, youth reach
S
Saud Brothers ~12M
YouTubeFamily challenges/vlogs — broad family entertainment
R
Rayan Al-Ahmari (Mjrmgames) ~10M
YouTubeGaming & adventure/travel vlogs
A
Abdullah Aldulaijan ~9M YouTube
YouTube/InstagramEntertainment & merch (Topz founder) — commerce-savvy
Fahad Albutairi ~1.3M
Instagram/YouTubeComedy/acting — pioneer Saudi stand-up & 'La Yekthar'
M
Mohammed Al Turki ~2M
InstagramFilm producer, CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation — entertainment/luxury

Celebrities

Aseel Omran ~7M Instagram
Saudi singer & actress, TV presenter
Abdul Majeed Abdullah ~2M Instagram
Leading contemporary Saudi/Gulf singer
Rashed Al-Majed ~2M Instagram
Famous Saudi singer (Khaleeji)
Mohammed Abdu ~1M+ (modest personal social presence)
Legendary Saudi singer, 'Artist of the Arabs' — cultural icon
Salem Al-Dawsari ~2M Instagram
Footballer, Saudi national-team captain (Al-Hilal)
Salman Al-Faraj ~1M Instagram
Footballer, ex-national-team & Al-Hilal captain

Affiliate & traffic

Hot verticals
  • E-commerce (fashion, electronics, beauty)
  • Finance & fintech (BNPL, banking/card lead-gen)
  • Nutra & beauty (oud/fragrance, cosmetics)
  • Food delivery (HungerStation, Jahez, ToYou)
  • Travel & tourism (Riyadh, Red Sea, religious)
  • Gaming & apps
  • Insurance lead-gen
Active networks
  • ArabClicks (GCC/MENA leader)
  • Boostiny (MENA)
  • Admitad / Mitgo
  • DCMnetwork (MENA)
  • Optimise MENA
  • Amazon Associates SA
  • Noon affiliate
  • Hareer Deals (Arabic)
Payouts
  • Premium CPA/CPL — insurance leads ~SAR 50-200
  • finance/fintech CPLs high
  • e-commerce on CPS
  • luxury/oud carry very high AOV
Competition
  • High — wealthy, high-spending market with premium CPMs
  • crowded in e-commerce, food delivery, finance and travel
Seasonality
Peaks at Ramadan/Eid (night-active), Riyadh Season (Oct-Mar), White/Yellow Friday (Nov), National Day (Sep) and back-to-school (Aug-Sep)
Traffic sources
  • Snapchat (unusually strong)
  • TikTok
  • Meta (Instagram/Facebook)
  • Google / YouTube
  • Influencer/KOL (GAMR-licensed)
  • X/Twitter

Good to know

Capital
Riyadh
Major cities
  • Riyadh
  • Jeddah
  • Mecca (Makkah)
  • Medina (Madinah)
  • Dammam
  • Al Khobar
  • Dhahran
  • Taif
  • Tabuk
Time zones
Single zone — Arabia Standard Time (AST, UTC+3), no DST
Android vs iOS
Android 69% iOS 31%
Phone brands
  • Apple (~24%)
  • Samsung (~16%)
  • Xiaomi (~9%)
  • Huawei
  • Honor (fast-growing)
  • Oppo
  • realme
Top e-commerce
  • Amazon.sa
  • Noon
  • Jarir
  • Haraj (classifieds)
  • Namshi
  • SHEIN
  • AliExpress
  • Extra / Carrefour
Peak activity
Evenings ~9pm-1am AST; during Ramadan shifts strongly to late post-iftar nights; weekend is Fri-Sat
Creative taboos
  • Religion/Islam (extreme care), no alcohol/pork/gambling/nudity or dating imagery, LGBTQ (illegal), the royal family & politics, regional geopolitics
  • respect Ramadan and prayer times
Also worth knowing
  • Vision 2030 is driving rapid liberalization (Riyadh Season, entertainment, women in the workforce ~36%) — a young, mobile-first, high-income audience
  • Snapchat and TikTok are unusually dominant vs Instagram, so plan spend accordingly
  • Oud/fragrance, luxury and gold convert well
  • paid influencer promotion legally requires a GAMR 'Mawthooq' licence, and Arabic-first creative is essential

Indicative reference — always confirm the current rules with the official source before you run.

Other countries

Afghanistan Tier 3 Albania Tier 2 Algeria Tier 3 American Samoa Tier 3 Andorra Tier 2 Angola Tier 3 Anguilla Tier 3 Antigua and Barbuda Tier 3
Geo Glossary Compare