Physical Integrity Rights Score in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: Physical Integrity Rights Score was -1.12 in 2019. ◆ Volatile
Physical Integrity Rights Score in Saudi Arabia, 1946–2019
Source: Fariss et al. (2020) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Saudi Arabia recorded -1.12 for physical integrity rights score in 2019. That is the lowest value across all 74 years on record.
That represents a change of down 6.7% on the previous year and down 52.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, physical integrity rights score in Saudi Arabia peaked at 0.7303 in 1949 and was at its lowest, -1.12, in 2019.
Saudi Arabia ranks 164th of 193 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Physical Integrity Rights Score in Saudi Arabia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1946 | 0.6401 | — |
| 1947 | 0.6893 | +7.7% |
| 1948 | 0.7271 | +5.5% |
| 1949 | 0.7303 | +0.4% |
| 1950 | 0.7092 | -2.9% |
| 1951 | 0.7146 | +0.8% |
| 1952 | 0.6764 | -5.3% |
| 1953 | 0.6609 | -2.3% |
| 1954 | 0.6231 | -5.7% |
| 1955 | 0.5362 | -13.9% |
| 1956 | 0.4635 | -13.6% |
| 1957 | 0.4137 | -10.7% |
| 1958 | 0.3685 | -10.9% |
| 1959 | 0.4031 | +9.4% |
| 1960 | 0.4075 | +1.1% |
| 1961 | 0.377 | -7.5% |
| 1962 | 0.3559 | -5.6% |
| 1963 | 0.3025 | -15.0% |
| 1964 | 0.2562 | -15.3% |
| 1965 | 0.2156 | -15.9% |
| 1966 | 0.1304 | -39.5% |
| 1967 | 0.0572 | -56.1% |
| 1968 | 0.0535 | -6.6% |
| 1969 | 0.0589 | +10.2% |
| 1970 | 0.142 | +140.9% |
| 1971 | 0.2266 | +59.6% |
| 1972 | 0.2764 | +22.0% |
| 1973 | 0.2818 | +2.0% |
| 1974 | 0.2488 | -11.7% |
| 1975 | 0.1928 | -22.5% |
| 1976 | 0.1624 | -15.7% |
| 1977 | 0.0877 | -46.0% |
| 1978 | 0.0822 | -6.3% |
| 1979 | -0.0975 | -218.6% |
| 1980 | -0.2662 | +172.9% |
| 1981 | -0.3096 | +16.3% |
| 1982 | -0.372 | +20.1% |
| 1983 | -0.4051 | +8.9% |
| 1984 | -0.4244 | +4.8% |
| 1985 | -0.4508 | +6.2% |
| 1986 | -0.4751 | +5.4% |
| 1987 | -0.5682 | +19.6% |
| 1988 | -0.5068 | -10.8% |
| 1989 | -0.5614 | +10.8% |
| 1990 | -0.4698 | -16.3% |
| 1991 | -0.4018 | -14.5% |
| 1992 | -0.3958 | -1.5% |
| 1993 | -0.4209 | +6.4% |
| 1994 | -0.3864 | -8.2% |
| 1995 | -0.488 | +26.3% |
| 1996 | -0.4261 | -12.7% |
| 1997 | -0.3815 | -10.5% |
| 1998 | -0.3973 | +4.1% |
| 1999 | -0.3463 | -12.8% |
| 2000 | -0.2643 | -23.7% |
| 2001 | -0.2034 | -23.0% |
| 2002 | -0.1587 | -22.0% |
| 2003 | -0.104 | -34.4% |
| 2004 | -0.1115 | +7.2% |
| 2005 | -0.1365 | +22.4% |
| 2006 | -0.248 | +81.7% |
| 2007 | -0.4661 | +87.9% |
| 2008 | -0.5865 | +25.8% |
| 2009 | -0.7321 | +24.8% |
| 2010 | -0.6432 | -12.2% |
| 2011 | -0.6428 | -0.1% |
| 2012 | -0.5063 | -21.2% |
| 2013 | -0.4458 | -11.9% |
| 2014 | -0.4627 | +3.8% |
| 2015 | -0.6009 | +29.9% |
| 2016 | -0.7881 | +31.2% |
| 2017 | -0.9186 | +16.6% |
| 2018 | -1.05 | +14.0% |
| 2019 | -1.12 | +6.7% |
Saudi Arabia compared with similar countries
- Saudi Arabia's -1.12 is below the median for high income countries, which is 2.22. (64 countries reporting)
- Saudi Arabia's -1.12 is below the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 0.0154. (22 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Physical Integrity Rights Score in Saudi Arabia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | -218.6% | 0.0822 | -0.0975 |
| 1980 | -172.9% | -0.0975 | -0.2662 |
| 1970 | +140.9% | 0.0589 | 0.142 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940s | 0.6967 | 0.6401 | 0.7303 | 4 |
| 1950s | 0.5569 | 0.3685 | 0.7146 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.2215 | 0.0535 | 0.4075 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.1603 | -0.0975 | 0.2818 | 10 |
| 1980s | -0.434 | -0.5682 | -0.2662 | 10 |
| 1990s | -0.4114 | -0.488 | -0.3463 | 10 |
| 2000s | -0.3011 | -0.7321 | -0.104 | 10 |
| 2010s | -0.7172 | -1.12 | -0.4458 | 10 |
Countries ranked near Saudi Arabia
More social development data for Saudi Arabia
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 448 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2,368 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 7 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 7 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0001 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2,368 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is physical integrity rights score in Saudi Arabia?
- Physical integrity rights score in Saudi Arabia was -1.12 in 2019, according to Fariss et al. (2020) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest physical integrity rights score recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The highest recorded value was 0.7303 in 1949.
- What is the lowest physical integrity rights score recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The lowest recorded value was -1.12 in 2019.
- How does Saudi Arabia rank for physical integrity rights score?
- Saudi Arabia ranks 164th out of 193 countries with data for 2019.
- Is physical integrity rights score rising or falling in Saudi Arabia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 52.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Saudi Arabia data come from?
- The figures come from Fariss et al. (2020) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Physical Integrity Rights Score. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The score captures the extent to which citizens are protected from government killings, torture, political imprisonments, extrajudicial executions, mass killings and disappearances. Large positive scores mean abuses are rare relative to other countries and years, large negative scores that abuses are relatively widespread.