Estimates of non-national populations in Saudi Arabia,
selected nationalities (figures up till November 3, 2013)
Country of citizenship		lower est.	upper est.
1	India	2,000,000	2,800,000
2	Pakistan	1,500,000
3	Bangladesh	1,500,000
4	Indonesia	1,500,000
5	Egypt	1,000,000	2,000,000
6	Syria	1,000,000
7	Sudan	500,000	900,000
8	Yemen	800,000	1,000,000
9	Philippines	670,000
10	Sri Lanka	550,000
11	Afghanistan	500,000
12	Nepal	500,000
13	Palestine (holders of	500,000	1,000,000
	travel documents)
14	Burma	250,000	600,000
15	Jordan (late 2000s)	250,000	300,000
16	Lebanon (2009, workers only)	160,000
17	Ethiopia	>150 000	700,000
18	Somalia-Erythrea	?

Source: Saudi government officials and sending countries’ diplomatic missions

1. Data collection methodology

Figures have been compiled from Saudi press articles (whenever possible).
The figures quoted reflect most recent rough estimates released in press conferences and interviews by Saudi government officials and sending countries’ diplomatic missions.
They reflect the stocks of non-nationals before the completion of the regularisation and crackdowns campaigns targeting foreigners in irregular situation.
Therefore, they are bound to be revised once the campaigns are over.

2. Data availability

1 http://www.indianembassy.org.sa/Content.aspx?ID=790&PID=691
2 http://www.arabnews.com/number-pakistani-expats-exceeds-15-m
3 http://www.arabnews.com/news/451289
4 http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/indonesian-president-coming-jeddah-visit
5 http://www.arabnews.com/news/483296; http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/87637/Business/Economy/Thousands-of-Egyptians-facing-visa-troubles-in-Sau.aspx
6 http://www.arabnews.com/news/470216
7 http://gulfnews.com/news/region/sudan/11-678-sudanese-leave-saudi-arabia-during-amnesty-1.1261853; http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article48701
8 http://www.arabnews.com/news/473621
9 http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130520166522
10 http://www.arabnews.com/news/452033
11 http://www.arabnews.com/news/481321
12 http://www.arabnews.com/news/470136
13 http://www.arabnews.com/news/482836; http://www.arabnews.com/news/485266
14 http://www.arabnews.com/news/459726; http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130411160940
15 http://hdl.handle.net/1814/13447
16 http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=2009051738185
17 http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/12/saudis-expel-100000-illegal-ethiopians-201312591727221329.html; http://gulfnews.com/news/region/sudan/11-678-sudanese-leave-saudi-arabia-during-amnesty-1.1261853

Last date of access: January 2014

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