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Policy profile on 12 axes

How Saudi Arabia Is Governed

Saudi Arabia is a unitary state that scores 0.05 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 29% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty is in use and same-sex relations are criminalized. Below: the laws, institutions and public spending of Saudi Arabia, scored on the same 12 axes as the test, with every indicator and source.

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Policy profile

The 12 axes, indicator by indicator

This profile describes the country's policy regime (laws, institutions and public spending) from published indices, not the views of its people or its current leaders. Data as of October 2026; each value shows its own year.

Ownership-0.35PublicPrivate4 indicators and sources
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): State dominates strategic sectors and much of large enterprise (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Property Rights (0-100): 51.4 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Investment Freedom (0-100): 50 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Financial Freedom (0-100): 50 (2026). Source
Markets0.00PlannedFree5 indicators and sources
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Business Freedom (0-100): 71.2 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Labor Freedom (0-100): 41.8 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Monetary Freedom (0-100): 81.2 (2026). Source
  • Regulatory Quality, estimate (-2.5 to 2.5): 0.67 (2025). Source
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): State dominates strategic sectors and much of large enterprise (2026). Source
Welfare+0.45SharedSelf-reliant3 indicators and sources
  • General government total expenditure (% of GDP): 29.07 (2025). Source
  • Domestic general government health expenditure (% of GDP): 4.42 (2023). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Tax Burden (0-100): 99.2 (2026). Source
Authority+0.85DemocraticStrong leader2 indicators and sources
  • Liberal Democracy Index (0-1): 0.05 (2025). Source
  • Judicial constraints on the executive (0-1): 0.28 (2025). Source
Security+0.70LibertyOrder4 indicators and sources
  • Freedom in the World civil liberties score (0-60): 8 (2025). Source
  • World Press Freedom Index score (0-100): 19.11 (2026). Source
  • Death penalty status: Retentionist, executions in the last 5 years (2025). Source
  • Prison population per 100,000 people: 140 (2019). Source
Structure+1.00LocalCentral2 indicators and sources
  • Territorial form of the state: Unitary state (2025). Source
  • Strong elected regional governments index (0-1): 0 (2025). Source
Morality+0.60ProgressiveTraditional3 indicators and sources
  • Same-sex marriage law (0 marriage, 1 civil union or partnership, 2 no recognition, 3 constitutional or statutory ban): Same-sex relations criminalized (2026). Source
  • Abortion law: To preserve health, or a few narrow grounds such as rape (2025). Source
  • Women, Business and the Law: Legal Framework Index (0-100): 56.23 (2025). Source
Religion+1.00SecularReligious2 indicators and sources
  • Religion and the state: Religious law is the basis of the state and legal system (2025). Source
  • Blasphemy or religious-insult law in force: In force (2025). Source
Technology-0.20EmbraceCaution3 indicators and sources
  • Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 0.64 (2024). Source
  • Nuclear power policy: Building or officially planning new reactors (2025). Source
  • Genetically modified crop cultivation: None grown, no ban (2025). Source
Culture+0.30MulticulturalNational identity4 indicators and sources
  • International migrant stock (% of population): 40.29 (2024). Source
  • Citizenship by birth in the territory: None: citizenship by descent only (2025). Source
  • Residence required for ordinary naturalization (years; 0 = no ordinary route): 10 years (2025). Points-based route after ten years; rarely granted. Review. Source
  • Dual citizenship for naturalizing adults: Not allowed: must renounce (2025). Source
Trade-0.15GlobalProtected4 indicators and sources
  • Tariff rate, applied, weighted mean, all products (%): 5.4 (2022). Source
  • Tariff rate, applied, simple mean, all products (%): 5.96 (2022). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Trade Freedom (0-100): 73.8 (2026). Source
  • Trade (exports + imports) (% of GDP): 57.92 (2025). Source
Foreign policy+0.20CooperationStrength5 indicators and sources
  • Military expenditure (% of GDP): 6.48 (2025). Source
  • Military conscription: None: volunteer forces or no military (2025). Source
  • Nuclear weapons status (0 none, 1 considers, 2 pursues, 3 possesses): No nuclear weapons program (2023). Source
  • Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: Not a party (never joined, signed only, or withdrew) (2026). Source
  • Collective defense commitments: Other mutual defense commitment only (EU Treaty art. 42.7, Rio Treaty, Arab League treaty, bilateral pact) (2026). Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement with Pakistan, September 2025; Arab League Joint Defence Treaty. Source

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Policy neighbours

Governed most like Saudi Arabia

Every other country with a profile, tinted by how close its laws, institutions and public spending are to those of Saudi Arabia on the same 12 axes. The percentage uses the 12 Axes match formula.

  1. 1Egypt83%
  2. 2Iran81%
  3. 3United Arab Emirates81%
  4. 4Turkey79%
  5. 5Indonesia72%
Least similarCanada38%
World map of countries by how similar their policy regime is to Saudi ArabiaClosest: 1. Egypt 83%, 2. Iran 81%, 3. United Arab Emirates 81%, 4. Turkey 79%, 5. Indonesia 72%, 6. Pakistan 70%, 7. Russia 68%, 8. Philippines 67%, 9. Singapore 67%, 10. Israel 66%. Least similar: Canada 38%. Every country is in the list after the map.Saudi Arabia
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  • Under 55%
  • 65 to 74%
  • 85% or more
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FAQ

Saudi Arabia: questions

How is Saudi Arabia governed, on the 12 axes?

Saudi Arabia is a unitary state that scores 0.05 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 29% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty is in use and same-sex relations are criminalized. Its policy regime leans furthest toward Religious on Religion (+1.00), Central on Structure (+1.00) and Strong leader on Authority (+0.85), on a scale from -1 to +1.

Which countries are governed most like Saudi Arabia?

On the same 12 axes, the closest policy regimes are Egypt (83%), Iran (81%) and the United Arab Emirates (81%). The furthest is Canada (38%). Matches use the same formula as the 12 Axes test.

Where does the data on Saudi Arabia come from?

From 41 indicators dated 2019 to 2026, published by V-Dem, Freedom House, the Heritage Foundation, the IMF, the OECD, the World Bank, SIPRI, Reporters Without Borders, the World Prison Brief, UN DESA and others. Among them: a press freedom score of 19.1 out of 100 (RSF, 2026), 140 prisoners per 100,000 people (2019), military spending of 6.5% of GDP (SIPRI, 2025) and 40% of residents born abroad (UN DESA, 2024). Every value, year and source is listed in the profile above.

Does the profile describe what people in Saudi Arabia think?

No. It describes the policy regime: laws, institutions and public spending. It does not measure public opinion or the speeches of the current government. To see which country is governed closest to your own views, take the 12 Axes test and open the country match on your result.

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