Qatar vs Saudi Arabia
Qatar vs Saudi Arabia: Inflation
Inflation in 2025: 0.6% a year in Qatar and 2% a year in Saudi Arabia, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Saudi Arabia, by 1.5 percentage points, or 3.66 times that in Qatar.
% a year · IMF
What the numbers say
- Saudi Arabia has been higher since 2024, when it overtook Qatar.
- In 2025, Qatar ranked 157 and Saudi Arabia ranked 118 of 179 countries, counting from the highest.
- The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts Qatar at 2% a year and Saudi Arabia at 2% a year in 2031.
Every year
% a year · IMF
| Year | Qatar | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.6 | 2 |
| 2024 | 1.2 | 1.5 |
| 2023 | 3.1 | 2.5 |
| 2022 | 5 | 2.5 |
| 2021 | 2.3 | 3.1 |
| 2020 | -2.5 | 3.2 |
| 2019 | -0.9 | -2 |
| 2018 | 0.1 | 2.5 |
| 2017 | 0.6 | -0.9 |
| 2016 | 2.7 | 2.9 |
| 2015 | 0.9 | 1.2 |
| 2014 | 4.2 | 1.8 |
| 2013 | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| 2012 | 1.8 | 2.9 |
| 2011 | 2 | 3.7 |
| 2010 | -2.4 | 3.7 |
| 2009 | -4.9 | 4.3 |
| 2008 | 15.1 | 6.1 |
| 2007 | 13.7 | 5 |
| 2006 | 11.7 | 1.9 |
| 2005 | 9 | 0.6 |
| 2004 | 6.8 | 0.3 |
| 2003 | 2.3 | 0.5 |
| 2002 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| 2001 | 1.7 | -1.1 |
| 2000 | 1.6 | -1 |
| 1999 | 2.2 | -2.1 |
| 1998 | 2.9 | -0.4 |
| 1997 | 2.7 | -0.2 |
| 1996 | 7 | 0.3 |
| 1995 | 3 | 5.1 |
| 1994 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
| 1993 | -0.7 | 1.2 |
| 1992 | 2.9 | -1 |
| 1991 | 4.5 | 3.9 |
| 1990 | 3 | -1.1 |
| 1989 | 3.3 | 1.2 |
| 1988 | 4.8 | -0.4 |
| 1987 | 4.5 | -2.4 |
| 1986 | 1.9 | -3.1 |
| 1985 | 1.1 | -2.3 |
| 1984 | 1.1 | -0.7 |
| 1983 | 2.7 | 0.6 |
| 1982 | 5.7 | 1.9 |
| 1981 | 8.5 | 3.6 |
| 1980 | 6.8 | 4.4 |
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
| Year | Qatar | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 3.6 | 1.9 |
| 2027 | 3.1 | 2.2 |
| 2028 | 2 | 2 |
| 2029 | 2 | 2 |
| 2030 | 2 | 2 |
| 2031 | 2 | 2 |
Each country on its own
Good to know
- How much consumer prices rose in a year, on average.
- Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook, October 2026.
- The dashed line is the IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026), a scenario rather than a forecast.
- Ranks count the 179 countries with a value in 2025, highest first.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time
Qatar vs Saudi Arabia
Health
- Life expectancyQatar: 82.4 years in 2023Saudi Arabia: 78.7 years in 2023
- Child mortalityQatar: 0.6 per 100 live births in 2024Saudi Arabia: 0.6 per 100 live births in 2024
- Infant mortalityQatar: 4.2 per 1,000 live births in 2023Saudi Arabia: 5.1 per 1,000 live births in 2023
- DepressionQatar: 3.48% in 2017Saudi Arabia: 3.54% in 2017
- Suicide rateQatar: 4.6 per 100,000 people in 2017Saudi Arabia: 2.9 per 100,000 people in 2017
People
- PopulationQatar: 2.98 million people in 2023Saudi Arabia: 33.3 million people in 2023
- Population growthQatar: 2.24% a year in 2023Saudi Arabia: 2.39% a year in 2023
- Fertility rateQatar: 1.73 births per woman in 2023Saudi Arabia: 2.28 births per woman in 2023
- Urban populationQatar: 99.4% in 2025Saudi Arabia: 84.6% in 2025
- Median ageQatar: 33.2 years in 2023Saudi Arabia: 29.3 years in 2023
- People aged 65 and overQatar: 1.6% in 2023Saudi Arabia: 2.8% in 2023
- Net migration rateQatar: 13.4 per 1,000 people in 2023Saudi Arabia: 9.8 per 1,000 people in 2023
Economy
Education
Politics
Conflict
Military
- Military spendingQatar: 6.5% of GDP in 2022Saudi Arabia: 6.48% of GDP in 2025
- Military spending in US dollarsQatar: $16.1B in 2022Saudi Arabia: $81.5B in 2025
- Military spending per personQatar: $5,428 in 2022Saudi Arabia: $2,428 in 2025
- Military share of state spendingQatar: 26.9% of government spending in 2022Saudi Arabia: 23.5% of government spending in 2025
- Armed forces personnelQatar: 22,000 people in 2020Saudi Arabia: 282,000 people in 2020
- National powerQatar: 0.18% of world capability in 2022Saudi Arabia: 1.34% of world capability in 2022
- Armed forces, share of workersQatar: 1.07% of the labour force in 2020Saudi Arabia: 1.92% of the labour force in 2020
- Arms importsQatar: 1.05 billion TIV in 2025Saudi Arabia: 3.04 billion TIV in 2025
- Arms exportsQatar: 2 million TIV in 2025Saudi Arabia: 3 million TIV in 2023