# Iraq and Saudi Arabia compared Iraq and Saudi Arabia side by side: 40 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, their chronicles record no events of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/irq-vs-sau Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates) Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Formation - Iraq: 23 August 1921 — The Kingdom of Iraq is established under Faisal I - Saudi Arabia: 1744 — The Diriyah pact founds the First Saudi State ## Economy | Metric | Iraq | Observed | Saudi Arabia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $280 B | 2024 | $1.24 T | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $6,074 | 2024 | $35,122 | 2024 | | GDP growth | -1.5% | 2024 | 2.0% | 2024 | | Inflation | -12.3% | 2024 | 1.7% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 70.7% | 2024 | 54.7% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Iraq | Observed | Saudi Arabia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 46 m | 2024 | 35 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 72.4 yrs | 2024 | 79.0 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 69.9% | 2024 | 84.5% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 3.2 | 2024 | 2.3 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Iraq | Observed | Saudi Arabia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 39.0 | 2024 | 29.8 | 2024 | | Political stability | 30.6 | 2024 | 65.1 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 29.9 | 2024 | 66.6 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 38.6 | 2024 | 66.1 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 33.6 | 2024 | 60.6 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 23.5 | 2024 | 63.1 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Iraq | Observed | Saudi Arabia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 5.5% | 2023 | 5.7% | 2023 | | Physicians | 1.02 | 2022 | 3.41 | 2023 | | Under-5 mortality | 21.8 | 2024 | 6.0 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 91.0% | 2024 | 96.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | 59.8% | 2024 | — | — | ## Education | Metric | Iraq | Observed | Saudi Arabia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 84.1% | 2021 | 97.9% | 2024 | | Primary enrolment | 104.6% | 2007 | 104.0% | 2024 | | Secondary enrolment | 50.6% | 2007 | 110.7% | 2024 | | Tertiary enrolment | 15.6% | 2005 | 83.9% | 2024 | | Education spending | — | — | 4.5% | 2023 | ## Technology | Metric | Iraq | Observed | Saudi Arabia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.6% | 2024 | | Researchers (per million) | 164 | 2021 | 1,235 | 2024 | | Internet users | 81.5% | 2024 | 100.0% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 100 | 2024 | 160 | 2024 | | High-tech exports | — | — | 0.5% | 2024 | ## Geography | Metric | Iraq | Observed | Saudi Arabia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 434,130 km² | 2023 | 2,149,690 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 1.9% | 2023 | 0.5% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 21.8% | 2023 | 80.8% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 5.2 | 2024 | 18.5 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 1.1% | 2021 | 0.1% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | Iraq | Observed | Saudi Arabia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 43.4% | 2021 | 25.6% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 42.8% | 2021 | 23.7% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.2% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 100.0% | 2023 | | Bauxite | — | — | 5.7 Mt | 2025 | | Phosphate rock | — | — | 10 Mt | 2025 | ## Military | Metric | Iraq | Observed | Saudi Arabia | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 2.4% | 2024 | 7.3% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $6.2 B | 2024 | $80 B | 2024 | | Armed forces | 459,000 | 2020 | 282,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/IRQ.md and https://terralore.co/country/SAU.md. ## Entangled histories (0 events) Neither nation's sourced chronicle names the other — across both archives, no recorded event crosses between them. That is a fact about the two records as they stand, not a gap filled here. ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators - Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho - Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org - R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex - Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 — U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain (U.S. Government work) · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/IRQ/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/SAU/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Iraq and Saudi Arabia compared", terralore.co/compare/irq-vs-sau, retrieved .