Living in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is the region's largest economy and is in the middle of reshaping itself, opening fields that were once closed to outsiders. Pay sits high on the global scale and goes untaxed, though with everyday costs climbing the money leaves a steady rather than generous margin. The hiring side is demanding, and roles in IT, engineering, and healthcare usually go to people who already fit a specific need. English is enough to work in those sectors, but the wider country runs in Arabic.

Saudi Arabia hosts the world's third-largest immigrant population, with 13.4M foreign-born residents making up 38% of the country. This is overwhelmingly a contract workforce drawn from South Asia and the wider region — Bangladesh, Yemen, and India each account for around 2M. The Saudi diaspora abroad, by contrast, is small at about 237K.