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Saudi Housing Landscape & Building Activity
Understand Saudi household dwelling types and building permit activity, with a clear distinction between occupied homes, permissions and completed supply.
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Saudi Housing Landscape & Building Activity
October 2026
Data periods: Dwellings: 2025; building permits: January to July 2026
At a glance
What do Saudi housing and building permit data show?
There were 4,505,816 dwellings occupied by Saudi households in 2025, with apartments accounting for 46.8%, according to GASTAT. Building permits totalled 39,205 in January to July 2026, down 8.8% from the same period in 2025. These measure occupied dwellings and permits issued, not total housing stock and completed homes.
Source:GASTAT: housingGASTAT: permits
Define the dwelling population before drawing conclusions
The dwelling data used here cover homes occupied by Saudi households. They include 2,108,093 apartments and 1,329,847 villas, approximately 46.8% and 29.5% of the total. This population is not every unit in the Kingdom and does not measure vacancy or homeownership rates.
Source:GASTAT: housing
Three regions account for most of the observed dwellings
Riyadh, Makkah and Eastern regions together account for about 63.7% of dwellings occupied by Saudi households in these data. The share covers entire administrative regions, not just the cities of Riyadh, Makkah and Dammam. It describes the observed dwelling distribution rather than future demand.
Source:GASTAT: housing
A stronger July does not reverse the cumulative decline
July 2026 recorded 5,828 permits, up 4.4% from July 2025. Yet the January to July total declined from 43,000 in 2025 to 39,205 in 2026. Reading the month alongside the cumulative period combines a recent signal with the broader context.
May to July 2026 observations are preliminary. A permit is not a completed dwelling, so permit counts cannot be translated directly into the number of homes entering the market or their delivery dates.
Source:GASTAT: permits
Saudi household dwellings in three regions
| Administrative region | Occupied dwellings |
|---|---|
| Riyadh | 1,079,764 |
| Makkah | 1,072,902 |
| Eastern Province | 719,566 |
Source:GASTAT: housing
Method and sources
The report keeps the 2025 housing statistics separate from the monthly permit series. Regional and dwelling-type shares are Osool calculations from GASTAT tables. Permit comparisons use the same seven months in both years and preserve the preliminary status of recent observations.
Public sources reviewed for the 4 October 2026 edition. Linked pages may subsequently update; the PDF retains this edition’s figures. Cover artwork is conceptual and does not depict verified projects.
- GASTAT: Housing Statistics 2025
Official source workbook. Synthesis and interpretation by Osool.
- GASTAT: Building permit statistics through July 2026
Official source workbook. Synthesis and interpretation by Osool.
Common questions
Is 4.51 million the total number of homes in Saudi Arabia?
No. It refers to dwellings occupied by Saudi households in the 2025 data. It is not the total number of residential units and does not measure vacant units or homes occupied by all residents.
Does the number of permits equal new housing supply?
No. The series counts building permits, not completed housing units. Project type, unit count and delivery timing can differ and cannot be inferred from the permit count alone.
