88 percent urbanization forecast by 2025

The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MMRA) has forecast that 88 percent of the Kingdom’s inhabitants will live in urban areas by 2025, which could consequently have an adverse effect on urban, social and economic development.
Demographic distribution in Saudi Arabia is concentrated in Riyadh, the Western Province and the Eastern Province, as they are commercial hubs and businesses tend to proliferate in urban areas.
The alarming figure prompted a number of government organizations led by MMRA to launch the National Urban Strategy, which is tasked with analyzing and detailing the demographic situation in the Kingdom, forecast to increase from 29.8 to 39 million by 2020. The strategy also includes a 20-year national plan to resolve the demographic distribution problem.
Sami Al-Abbood, director general of urban planning at MMRA, revealed that the migration flow from rural areas to major cities still goes unabated.
“The Central Department of Statistics and Information reported that at the beginning of 2013, the number of inhabitants in Saudi Arabia stood at 29.8 million, a third of whom were foreigners,” he said. “Urbanization in the Kingdom increased from 48 percent in the 1970s to around 80 percent in 2000. We expect urbanization to be as high as 88 percent by the year 2025,” he asserted.
But a new survey by the Supreme Commission for the Development of Riyadh indicated a decrease in the annual migration rate to Riyadh. “The current annual level of migration stands at 33,000 people. It was as high as 75,000 in previous years. This has resulted in a decrease in demographic growth from 8 percent to 4.2 percent,” according to the survey. The survey estimates that the number of inhabitants in Riyadh will reach 8.2 million people by 2030, 75 percent of whom will be Saudi.
“By that time, Riyadh will need around 680,000 jobs, or an annual rate of 34,450 jobs. The city will also need 606,000 residential units at an annual rate of 30,300 units,” the survey reported.