Internet Access in Saudi Arabia: 1800 to Today (and Tomorrow)

Updated October 2026 · ⬇ download this dataset (CSV) · methodology

In the 2020s, internet access in Saudi Arabia stands at 98 % — ranking #2 of 157 countries. In 1900 it was 0 %. (Source: ITU / World Bank, compiled by MYRIAD)

To understand the statistics of a human life in Saudi Arabia is to watch an entire world transform across centuries. Behind the dry figures of connectivity lie the actual days and years lived by generations who walked under the same desert sun. Data journalism often reduces human existence to percentages and decadal markers, yet each percentage point represents millions of individual moments, quiet conversations, and daily routines. Numbers trace the silent architecture of daily survival and the expanding horizons of a modern society, mapping the exact contours of change over time.

For most of the timeline, this story is entirely unrecorded by the glow of a screen. From the 1800s estimate 0 through the 1980s 0, the human experience was completely offline. The digital era arrived abruptly in the 1990s 1.42, edged upward in the 2000s 2.84, surged past the halfway mark in the 2010s 50.42, and reached nearly universal connection by the 2020s 98, ranking #2 of 157 countries. Projections for the 2030s projection 99 through the 2100s projection 99 suggest a near-complete digital saturation.

If you were born during the long centuries of absolute isolation, your world was defined by local horizons and oral traditions. Born today, however, your life unfolds inside an interconnected global network shared with almost everyone around you. This technological leap alters how you learn, work, and communicate, contrasting sharply with the realities faced by your ancestors. As these shifting probabilities unfold, it becomes clear how deeply the era of birth shapes the boundaries of daily existence and global standing.

Explore MYRIAD to compute how your own life compares to the billions who came before.

🇸🇦 Share of people using the internet. For Saudi Arabia, the story across three centuries is below — every value is a statistical fact about the lives actually lived there.

Decade by decade

DecadeInternet Access (%)
1800s estimate0
1810s estimate0
1820s estimate0
1830s estimate0
1840s estimate0
1850s estimate0
1860s estimate0
1870s estimate0
1880s estimate0
1890s estimate0
1900s estimate0
1910s estimate0
1920s estimate0
1930s estimate0
1940s estimate0
1950s0
1960s0
1970s0
1980s0
1990s1.42
2000s2.84
2010s50.42
2020s98
2030s projection99
2040s projection99
2050s projection99
2060s projection99
2070s projection99
2080s projection99
2090s projection99
2100s projection99

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Questions people ask

What is the Internet Access in Saudi Arabia today?

98 % in the 2020s (ITU / World Bank).

How much did Internet Access in Saudi Arabia change since 1950?

Reliable 1950s data is not available for this series.

Where does Saudi Arabia rank worldwide?

#2 of 157 countries covered by MYRIAD in the 2020s.

Where does YOUR life rank? →