Largest education market in the GCC expected to grow further

• With more than 8.4 million students, Saudi Arabia has the largest education market in the GCC region.
• Saudi Arabia’s education sector is home to 6.4 million K-12 students, 1.8 million university students and 200,000 TVET students.
• Saudi government dedicates large amounts of spending on education year on year and is in fact currently the largest spender on education among the GCC countries.

Large untapped potential in the Saudi private education market

• Saudi Arabia has the lowest share of students enrolled in private education institutions relative to the GCC region.
• Yet, there is a big market demand for private education institutions as the demand for higher quality education is growing, creating strong opportunities for investors.
• Publicly listed education providers in Saudi Arabia are largely profitable.

Government commitment to support the growing education market

• The government is placing a strong emphasis on human capital by launching a dedicated Human Capital Development Program (HCDP) as part of the Vision 2030 realization programs.
• The HCDP includes many ambitious commitments by 2025, including raising the percentage of children enrolled in kindergartens to 40% and increasing the number of Saudi universities ranked among the world’s top 200 to six.
• The government has invested heavily in e-learning, with 9 million students benefiting from distance learning platforms and 300,000 children benefiting from the virtual kindergarten platform.
• Various incentives are offered for private sector to play a key role in the Kingdom’s education reforms.