Islam by country · Asia
Islam in Saudi Arabia: history and Muslim population data
Explore CoMPS research on the historical journey of Islam in Saudi Arabia, alongside population data and an interactive timeline.
Open Saudi Arabia in the interactive map
History of Islam in Saudi Arabia
Islam started in Mecca, West of Saudi Arabia in 609AD. After the Hijra in622AD, the first Muslim state was established in Medina, 330 km northof Mecca. After the opening of Mecca in 630AD, all current Saudi Arabiabecame under Muslim control, and Muslims remained the majority ofthe population since then. Currently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hasan area of 2,149,690 sq km
The first complete census was held in 1974. However, censuses in thiscountry do not include a religion questionnaire, as the governmentclaims that the entire population is Muslim. While this is true for SaudiNationals, as is the case for the other countries in this region, the case isnot true for the foreign population, who represent a third (32.4%) of thetotal population as of 2014. Oil exploration started in this region in 1920sand the following decade oil discoveries occurred in the westernprovince. More non-Muslim workers started flocking to the country andregion as a result. Around 1950, they were estimated at 2,000 Americansand 3,000 Italians in the city of Dammam, making the percentage ofMuslims 99.8%. According to the World Values Survey (WVS), thepercentage of Muslims was 97.20% in 2003. Thus, assuming thispercentage remains constant; then the Muslim population is expected toreach 47 million by 2050 and 49 million by 2100.
Historical Muslim population dataset for Saudi Arabia
The figures below are from the CoMPS historical dataset. Population values are expressed in thousands; 2100 is a modelled projection, not a present-day count.
| Year | Total population (thousands) | Muslim population (thousands) | Muslim share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 2,569 | 2,569 | 100.00% |
| 2000 | 21,278 | 20,683 | 97.20% |
| 2100 | 50,496 | 49,082 | 97.20% |
For the full time series and visualisation, use the interactive map above.