Internet in Saudi Arabia was introduced in 1994, initially limited to educational, medical, and research institutions with authorized access. In 1997, a ministerial decree formally permitted broader internet connectivity, and by 1999, access was extended to the general public.
The number of internet users in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
reached approximately 200,000 in December 2000. This number grew significantly, reaching 16 million users by 2013, and then 24 million users by 2017. By 2023, the number of internet users in the Kingdom had increased to 32 million, meaning that the percentage of internet users rose to 99% of the population, compared to 82% in 2017.
In 2024, Saudi Arabia jumped to the eighth position globally in internet speed, achieving an average mobile internet speed of 128.03 megabits per second in June, according to a report published by the global website
Speedtest.net
Speedtest.net, also known as Speedtest by Ookla, is a web service that provides free analysis of Internet access performance metrics, such as connection data rate and latency. It is the flagship product of Ookla, a web testing and network di ...
which specializes in measuring mobile internet speeds. According to the
Communications, Space and Technology Commission, the average mobile internet speed in 2023 reached 214.6 megabits per second.
According to a report by mobile analytics firm
OpenSignal, Saudi Arabia led the world in
5G download speeds, recording an average speed of 144.5 Mbps.
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
ranked second with an average of 90.4 Mbps, while
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
placed third with 75.6 Mbps.
References
{{Reflist
Internet in Saudi Arabia