In brief
GASTAT reported that 99.6% of Saudi residents aged 15 to 74 use the internet, with mobile phones as the dominant device. Social networking tops online activity, while e‑government services and e‑commerce see high uptake. The results underline the country’s near‑universal digital connectivity.
In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the General Authority for Statistics released findings on November 1, 2026 that show that almost all individuals aged 15 to 74 have Internet access, with a penetration rate of 99.6 percent, indicating that the digital divide has nearly vanished across the kingdom.
According to the survey, 99.8 percent of Saudi males and 99.5 percent of Saudi females are online, while the 15‑to‑24 age cohort recorded the highest penetration at 99.9 percent.
Of the 15‑to‑74 demographic, 99.3 percent use the Internet from home, and 98 percent report logging on at least once a day.
Mobile phones dominate connectivity, used by 98.4 percent of respondents, with laptops and tablets used by 13.9 percent and 12.3 percent respectively.
Social networking is the most common activity, engaged by 99.7 percent of Internet users of both genders; subsequent popular activities include watching video (87.8 percent), searching for goods and services (65.4 percent), listening to audio (55.2 percent), and gaming (19.4 percent).
Electronic government services see widespread use, with 98.4 percent of all individuals and 98.6 percent of Saudi nationals accessing them; obtaining government forms electronically is the most used function, at 89.0 percent of users.
In e‑commerce, 74.5 percent of Internet users buy goods and services online, a figure that rises to 84.9 percent among Saudis and is split between 86.8 percent of females and 83.1 percent of males; top categories of online purchases are clothing, footwear, sports equipment and household items (85.2 percent), followed by food, groceries and tobacco (54.4 percent) and books, magazines and newspapers (22.8 percent).
GASTAT’s statistics are compiled using a unified methodology aligned with international standards, enabling comparison with global benchmarks and supporting measurement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
