The various Saudi Vision 2030 initiatives have now been completed or are on track to meet targets.
Kingdom sees increases in visitors, home ownership rates, life expectancy
Out of the 1,064 initiatives that have been rolled out under the ambitious strategy, 87% are complete or on track, the state-owned Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
As of last year alone, Saudi Arabia recorded improvements in visitor numbers, Umrah performers, home ownership rates, heritage sites, life expectancy and health services coverage, among other indicators.
Thursday marked the 8th anniversary of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, a transformative plan that aims to diversify the kingdom’s economy and reduce its reliance on oil revenues.
“Vision 2030 remains firmly on course,” the agency said.
Latest achievements
The programme’s annual report for 2023 highlighted that the strategy enabled Saudi to record 106 million visitors, including 27.4 million international tourists last year, making the kingdom the second fastest-growing tourism destination in the world.
The number of Umrah performers from abroad also jumped to a record-breaking 13.56 million, exceeding the target for 2023 and representing nearly half of the 30 million performers targeted by the strategy for 2030.
The number of UNESCO-listed Saudi heritage sites also rose to seven, surpassing the 2023 target and nearly hitting the 2030 goal of eight.
In terms of healthcare, the percentage of population covered by health services now stands at 96.4%, surpassing the 96% target for last year.
As for homeownership rates, more than 66,000 families in the kingdom have received new residential units, with the month of August alone recording the launch of 24,000 new homes.
More than half of Saudi nationals (63.74%) now own their homes, surpassing the 2023 target of 63% and showing a significant improvement from a baseline of 47%. The ultimate goal is to ensure 70% of citizens own homes.
Life expectancy in the kingdom has risen to 78.1 years, exceeding a baseline of 77.1 years and nearing the vision’s target of 80 years.
Source: Zawya
