Saudi Arabia: Number of residency permits issued by year (1984-2017)
| Number of residency permits issued | |
| 1984 | 802,859 |
| 1985 | 563,747 |
| 1986 | 591,261 |
| 1987 | 641,169 |
| 1988 | 615,552 |
| 1989 | 705,679 |
| 1990 | 750,412 |
| 1991 | 919,879 |
| 1992 | 1,062,305 |
| 1993 | 1,095,450 |
| 1994 | 767,243 |
| 1995 | 619,178 |
| 1996 | 962,235 |
| 1997 | 962,235 |
| 1998 | 876,276 |
| 1999 | 661,527 |
| 2000 | 765,903 |
| 2001 | 810,920 |
| 2002 | 1,016,151 |
| 2003 | 1,029,573 |
| 2004 | 879,261 |
| 2005 | 650,764 |
| 2006 | 1,084,646 |
| 2007 | 1,423,861 |
| 2008 | 1,641,096 |
| 2009 | n.a. |
| 2010 | 1,639,591 |
| 2011 | 1,411,688 |
| 2012 | 1,922,012 |
| 2013 | 1,839,861 |
| 2014 | 1,962,443 |
| 2015 | 2,212,635 |
| 2016 | 1,823,332 |
| 2017 | 1,842,824 |
Sources: General Directorate of Passports, Ministry of Interior.
1. Data collection methodology
The Ministry of Interior issues the residency permit, for workers and for family dependents.
2. Institution which provides data
CDSI/ General Authority for Statistics (GAStat)
3. Data availability
(a) Published in the CDSI/GAStat Statistical Yearbooks, in Chapter “Social services” until 2016 and in section “Population and Demography” in 2017
Statistical Yearbooks are available online at:
https://www.stats.gov.sa/en/930
Date of access: October 2018.