Share of primary energy use by source in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: Share of primary energy use by source was 40.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of primary energy use by source in Saudi Arabia, 1965–2025
Source: Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, share of primary energy use by source in Saudi Arabia stood at 40.0%. That is the highest value across all 61 years on record.
The figure is up 6.3% on the previous year and up 23.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of primary energy use by source in Saudi Arabia peaked at 40.0% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 2.6%, in 1965.
Saudi Arabia ranks 19th of 77 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 61 years of available data.
Share of primary energy use by source in Saudi Arabia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 2.6% | — |
| 1966 | 3.0% | +18.6% |
| 1967 | 3.6% | +18.7% |
| 1968 | 4.3% | +18.4% |
| 1969 | 5.0% | +18.4% |
| 1970 | 5.8% | +15.9% |
| 1971 | 4.9% | -16.7% |
| 1972 | 5.1% | +5.8% |
| 1973 | 5.7% | +10.4% |
| 1974 | 6.8% | +19.3% |
| 1975 | 10.2% | +50.0% |
| 1976 | 9.5% | -6.6% |
| 1977 | 11.3% | +19.2% |
| 1978 | 14.0% | +23.7% |
| 1979 | 14.2% | +1.3% |
| 1980 | 22.0% | +55.1% |
| 1981 | 21.5% | -2.3% |
| 1982 | 20.7% | -3.7% |
| 1983 | 18.6% | -9.9% |
| 1984 | 24.2% | +29.7% |
| 1985 | 24.5% | +1.3% |
| 1986 | 30.5% | +24.7% |
| 1987 | 30.6% | +0.3% |
| 1988 | 31.8% | +3.8% |
| 1989 | 33.1% | +4.0% |
| 1990 | 34.3% | +3.8% |
| 1991 | 34.4% | +0.2% |
| 1992 | 37.0% | +7.7% |
| 1993 | 37.9% | +2.5% |
| 1994 | 35.0% | -7.6% |
| 1995 | 36.1% | +3.0% |
| 1996 | 36.1% | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 36.2% | +0.2% |
| 1998 | 35.5% | -1.9% |
| 1999 | 34.4% | -3.1% |
| 2000 | 35.4% | +3.0% |
| 2001 | 35.9% | +1.2% |
| 2002 | 36.4% | +1.4% |
| 2003 | 36.4% | -0.0% |
| 2004 | 36.7% | +0.8% |
| 2005 | 37.4% | +2.0% |
| 2006 | 36.7% | -1.7% |
| 2007 | 36.4% | -1.0% |
| 2008 | 35.9% | -1.3% |
| 2009 | 33.8% | -5.9% |
| 2010 | 34.0% | +0.5% |
| 2011 | 34.3% | +0.9% |
| 2012 | 34.8% | +1.4% |
| 2013 | 34.8% | +0.1% |
| 2014 | 33.2% | -4.7% |
| 2015 | 32.5% | -2.1% |
| 2016 | 33.1% | +2.0% |
| 2017 | 34.3% | +3.7% |
| 2018 | 36.1% | +5.3% |
| 2019 | 37.4% | +3.6% |
| 2020 | 39.2% | +4.6% |
| 2021 | 38.4% | -1.9% |
| 2022 | 37.3% | -2.8% |
| 2023 | 37.0% | -0.9% |
| 2024 | 37.7% | +1.9% |
| 2025 | 40.0% | +6.3% |
Saudi Arabia compared with similar countries
- Saudi Arabia's 40.0% is above the median for high income countries, which is 24.7%, 1.6× the median. (45 countries reporting)
- Saudi Arabia's 40.0% is below the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 48.7%, 82% of the median. (12 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of primary energy use by source in Saudi Arabia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | +55.1% | 14.2% | 22.0% |
| 1975 | +50.0% | 6.8% | 10.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 3.7% | 2.6% | 5.0% | 5 |
| 1970s | 8.7% | 4.9% | 14.2% | 10 |
| 1980s | 25.7% | 18.6% | 33.1% | 10 |
| 1990s | 35.7% | 34.3% | 37.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 36.1% | 33.8% | 37.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 34.4% | 32.5% | 37.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 38.3% | 37.0% | 40.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Saudi Arabia
More energy & mining data for Saudi Arabia
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, annual growth rate 1.85 % change on previous year (2025)
- Coal consumption, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal consumption, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per capita 0.0001 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal production, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Coal production, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Fuel imports 5.7% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of primary energy use by source in Saudi Arabia?
- Share of primary energy use by source in Saudi Arabia was 40.0% in 2025, according to Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of primary energy use by source recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The highest recorded value was 40.0% in 2025.
- What is the lowest share of primary energy use by source recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.6% in 1965.
- How does Saudi Arabia rank for share of primary energy use by source?
- Saudi Arabia ranks 19th out of 77 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of primary energy use by source rising or falling in Saudi Arabia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 23.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Saudi Arabia data come from?
- The figures come from Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of primary energy use by source. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 61 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Measured as a percentage of total energy supply.