How does Saudi Arabia rank for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area?

Saudi Arabia ranks 35th out of 240 countries with data for 2024.

Is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area rising or falling in Saudi Arabia?

Over the last ten years it is up 1.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.

Where does this Saudi Arabia data come from?

The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area from MODIS. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Saudi Arabia

Name: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Saudi Arabia
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)

Saudi Arabia: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area was 494.7 1000 ha in 2024. ▬ Flat

Latest (2024)

494.7 1000 ha

Change on year

up 0.2%

World rank

35th

of 240 countries

All-time high

494.7 1000 ha

in 2024

All-time low

484.95 1000 ha

in 2001

Years of data

2001–2024

Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Saudi Arabia, 2001–2024

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.

Analysis

Saudi Arabia recorded 494.7 1000 ha for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in 2024. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.2% on the previous year and up 1.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Saudi Arabia peaked at 494.7 1000 ha in 2024 and was at its lowest, 484.95 1000 ha, in 2001.

That places Saudi Arabia 35th out of 240 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
2000s	485.69 1000 ha	484.95 1000 ha	486.71 1000 ha	9
2010s	488.84 1000 ha	487.33 1000 ha	490.48 1000 ha	10
2020s	492.62 1000 ha	490.86 1000 ha	494.7 1000 ha	5

Countries ranked near Saudi Arabia

32 Malaysia 528.94 1000 ha compare
33 Netherlands (Kingdom of the) 503.77 1000 ha compare
34 Caribbean 501.64 1000 ha compare
36 Chile 469.02 1000 ha compare
37 Colombia 433.19 1000 ha compare
38 Iraq 423.28 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 269 places →

More environment data for Saudi Arabia

Standard Deviation 0.424 °C (2025)
Temperature change 1.58 °C (2025)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Annual growth US$ 5.05 % (2024)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Annual growth US$ 4.97 % (2024)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Annual growth 5.05 % (2024)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Annual growth 4.97 % (2024)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Share of GDP 3.08 % (2024)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Share of GDP 2.81 % (2024)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Share of GDP US$ 3.08 % (2024)
Value Added (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) — Share of GDP US$ 2.81 % (2024)

All data for Saudi Arabia →

Frequently asked questions

What is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Saudi Arabia?: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Saudi Arabia was 494.7 1000 ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area recorded in Saudi Arabia?: The highest recorded value was 494.7 1000 ha in 2024.
What is the lowest artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area recorded in Saudi Arabia?: The lowest recorded value was 484.95 1000 ha in 2001.
How does Saudi Arabia rank for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area?: Saudi Arabia ranks 35th out of 240 countries with data for 2024.
Is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area rising or falling in Saudi Arabia?: Over the last ten years it is up 1.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
Where does this Saudi Arabia data come from?: The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area from MODIS. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).

About this data

Indicator: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area from MODIS
Unit: 1000 ha
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage: 269 places, 6,390 data points, 2001–2024
Last refreshed: 12 August 2026

The FAOSTAT domain on Land Cover data under the Agri-Environmental Indicators section contains land cover information organized by the land cover classes of the international standard system for Environmental and Economic Accounting Central Framework (SEEA CF). The land cover information is compiled from publicly available Global Land Cover (GLC) maps: a) MODIS land cover types based on the Land Cover Classification System, LCCS; b) The European Spatial Agency (ESA) Climate Change Initiative (CCI) annual land cover maps produced by the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL)-Geomatics and now under the European Copernicus Program; c) The annual land cover maps which were produced under the European Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS) (CGLS land cover, containing discrete land cover categorization), with spatial resolution 100m; and d) the WorldCover maps of the European Space Agency, produced at 10m resolution.