Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Saudi Arabia instead of Maldives, you would:
Health
see 51.9% more spent on your healthcare
Maldives spends $2,288 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Saudi Arabia spends $3,475 as of 2023.
have 21.3% more access to essential health services
Maldives scores 61 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Saudi Arabia scores 74 as of 2021.
be 35.4% less likely to die by suicide
Maldives has a suicide rate of 1.5 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Saudi Arabia, it is 0.9 per 100,000 as of 2021.
live 2.3 years less
In Maldives, the average life expectancy is 81 years (80 years for men, 83 years for women) as of 2024. In Saudi Arabia, that number is 79 years (77 years for men, 81 years for women) as of 2024.
be 2.2 times more likely to be obese
In Maldives, 17.9% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Saudi Arabia, that number is 40.1% of people as of 2024.
Economy
be 32.6% less likely to be unemployed
In Maldives, 4.5% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Saudi Arabia, that number is 3.0% as of 2025.
make 2.4 times more money
Maldives has a GDP per capita of $14,615 as of 2025, while in Saudi Arabia, the GDP per capita is $34,537 as of 2025.
Life
be 78.1% less likely to die during childbirth
In Maldives, approximately 32.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Saudi Arabia, 7.0 women do as of 2023.
have 55.8% more children
In Maldives, there are approximately 10.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Saudi Arabia, there are 16.5 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
Basic Needs
be 17.3% more likely to have internet access
In Maldives, approximately 85.2% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Saudi Arabia, about 100.0% do as of 2024.
Expenditures
spend 13.3% less on education
Maldives spends 5.2% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Saudi Arabia spends 4.5% of total GDP on education as of 2023.
spend 38.5% less on healthcare
Maldives spends 9.2% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Saudi Arabia, that number is 5.7% of GDP as of 2023.
Geography
see 4.1 times more coastline
Maldives has a total of 644 km of coastline. In Saudi Arabia, that number is 2,640 km.
Safety
be 51.6% more likely to be murdered
Maldives has a homicide rate of 0.6 per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Saudi Arabia, that number is 0.9 per 100,000 as of 2019.
be 14.2 times more likely to die in a road accident
In Maldives, road accidents kill 1.3 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Saudi Arabia, they kill 18.5 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
find 2.2 times more home broadband
Maldives has 19.6 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Saudi Arabia has 44.1 as of 2024.
live with 62.2 times more strain on fresh water
Maldives withdraws 16% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Saudi Arabia withdraws 974% as of 2022.
Environment
be 3.1 times more likely to die from air pollution
In Maldives, air pollution causes 29.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Saudi Arabia, it causes 91.0 as of 2019.
emit 5.2 times more CO2
Maldives emits 3.6 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Saudi Arabia emits 18.5 tonnes as of 2024.
Sources: World Bank (2019–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this
Compare further: Maldives vs. Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: At a glance
How big is Saudi Arabia compared to Maldives? See an in-depth size comparison.