A decade of transformation: How Saudi Arabia reshaped daily life

Saudi Arabia’s transformation over the past decade has not been limited to major projects or economic indicators; it has reached into the details of daily life for citizens, from housing and employment to payments, entertainment, volunteering, and technology.

Between 2016 and 2026, figures paint a clear picture of the scale of change since the launch of Vision 2030—a journey spanning less than a decade.

At the start of Vision 2030, the homeownership rate among Saudi families stood at 47 percent. This has since risen to over 65 percent, approaching the 2030 target of 70 percent.

In the labor market, Saudi women’s participation in the workforce increased from a baseline of 22.8 percent to 36.6 percent in 2025, surpassing the original Vision target of 30 percent. The goal was later raised to 40 percent after the initial target was met ahead of schedule.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate among Saudis dropped from 12.3 percent at baseline to 7.2 percent in 2025, nearing the Vision 2030 target of 7 percent.

Financial transactions also underwent a major shift, with electronic payments accounting for 85 percent of all retail payments in the Kingdom in 2025. Around 14.6 billion electronic payment transactions were carried out in a single year, reflecting the rapid change in how daily purchases are made.

Community participation saw a leap as well, with the number of volunteers rising from 34,040 in 2016 to more than 1.7 million in 2025—surpassing the Vision 2030 target of one million annual volunteers years ahead of schedule.

In the entertainment sector, there were no commercial cinemas in the Kingdom when Vision 2030 began. The first cinema opened in April 2018, and by September 2024, there were 636 cinema screens across 65 locations, with a total capacity of 63,517 seats.

The transformation extended into the digital realm, with internet penetration reaching 99.6 percent. Adoption of artificial intelligence tools among internet users hit 45.2 percent in 2025—more than double the previous year’s level.

Behind these daily changes, the Saudi economy underwent broader transformation, with non-oil activities contributing about 55 percent of GDP in 2025, alongside the expansion of tourism, technology, culture, entertainment, sports, and other sectors.

A comparison with previous years shows that Saudi Arabia’s transformation has moved beyond plans and major projects to become embedded in daily life—from homeownership and job opportunities to payment methods, entertainment, volunteering, and technology use.

In less than a decade, new sectors have emerged, others have expanded, and social, economic, and technological patterns have shifted. Practices once unfamiliar have become part of everyday life in the Kingdom.

Ten years have redrawn many aspects of life in Saudi Arabia, as the Kingdom continues its journey toward 2030 with figures reflecting the scale of transformation achieved—and even greater potential ahead.