Extreme Poverty in Saudi Arabia: 1800 to Today (and Tomorrow)

To consider the arc of human survival is to measure the distance between scarcity and stability. In the 1800s estimate, 46.11 percent of the population lived below the extreme poverty line. By the 1900s estimate, that figure shifted to 31.92 percent. Today, the reality of life in the kingdom has been fundamentally rewritten. In the 2020s, extreme poverty in Saudi Arabia stands at 0.1 percent, ranking #10 of 157 countries. This transition reflects a long departure from the conditions that defined the lives of those who came before.

The historical trajectory shows a steady decline in the share of people living below the international extreme poverty line of $2.15/day, 2017 PPP. From the 1810s estimate of 44.69 percent to the 1950s measurement of 16.21 percent, the data traces a persistent compression of hardship. By the 1980s, the rate fell to 3.34 percent, and by the 2000s, it reached 0.61 percent. Looking ahead, the 2030s projection and every decade through the 2100s projection stabilizes at 0.2 percent, suggesting a lasting structural change.

If you were born in the 1840s estimate, when 40.44 percent of people lived in extreme poverty, your daily existence was shaped by different constraints than those born in the 2010s, where the rate was 0.35 percent. This data represents the lived experience of millions across three centuries, detailing a shift from widespread precarity to modern prosperity. While the past was defined by the struggle to meet basic needs, the coming decades anticipate a plateau of relative security. Use the links below to see where you rank among everyone ever born.