Overview

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) Voluntary National Review (VNR) 2026, submitted to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) on 18 June 2026, presents the Kingdom's progress in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the framework of Saudi Vision 2030. Rather than reporting by individual SDGs, the VNR is structured around nine national missions that integrate economic diversification, social development and environmental sustainability. The report highlights measurable progress across sectors, including renewable energy capacity increasing from 0.3 GW (2019) to 6.2 GW (2025), life expectancy reaching 79.7 years (2024), and beneficiary satisfaction with social services rising to 88.7% (2025), demonstrating Saudi Arabia's integrated approach to sustainable development.

Recommendations

Continue accelerating renewable energy deployment and energy efficiency to support the 2060 net zero
Improve water resource management by increasing irrigation efficiency and expanding treated wastewater reuse.
Strengthen biodiversity conservation, ecosystem restoration and climate adaptation measures.
Enhance research, innovation, technology transfer and industry–academia collaboration to support knowledge-based economic growth.
Expand inclusive employment opportunities, women's economic empowerment and regional development to ensure that no one is left behind.
Continue strengthening SDG monitoring systems, data quality and multi-stakeholder partnerships to sustain progress towards the 2030 Agenda.

Conclusion

The VNR concludes that Saudi Arabia has made significant progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through coordinated reforms under Saudi Vision 2030. Notable achievements include improvements in renewable energy, healthcare, education, food security, digital transformation and social protection, while recognising that challenges remain in areas such as climate resilience, water security, biodiversity conservation and inclusive economic growth. The report reaffirms the Kingdom's commitment to strengthening partnerships, enhancing institutional capacity and sustaining evidence-based policies to accelerate progress towards the 2030 Agenda and fulfil its commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2060.

Social Networks

Location

Ministry of Economy and Planning, وزارة الإقتصاد والتخطيط - Granda Business Park, Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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Region

SDGs Progress Tracker

United Nations Voluntary National Reports

Country Focal Point

General focal point:
Hajar Algosair
General Supervisor for Sustainable Development Affairs
Ministry of Economy & Planning

VNR focal Point:
Yara Sindi
General Manager for Sustainability Analytics & Policy Integration
Ministry of Economy & Planning

SDG 1 (No Poverty) Score: 4 On-Track

Justification	Saudi Arabia strengthened social protection through the Daman Programme (redesigned in 2021), the Citizen Account Programme, GOSI pensions and the Tamkeen Empowerment Programme to support vulnerable and low-income households.
Challenges	The VNR highlights the need to continue improving employment opportunities and economic empowerment while ensuring adequate social protection for vulnerable groups.
Progress/Solution	The Citizen Account Programme registered over 10.4 million beneficiaries. Beneficiary satisfaction with social services reached 88.7% in 2025 (target: 75%). GOSI pension expenditure increased from SAR 29.2 billion (2023) to over SAR 31.1 billion (2024), civil pension expenditure exceeded SAR 61.0 billion (2024), and a minimum monthly pension of SAR 1,983 was introduced. The Tamkeen Programme empowered 33.4% of able-bodied beneficiaries in 2025, up from 1% in 2017.
Unsolved Challenges	Continued expansion of inclusive employment, sustained social protection financing and reducing regional disparities remain priorities to ensure that no vulnerable groups are left behind.

SDGs World Progress: Achieved

SDGs World Progress: On-Track

SDGs World Progress: Moderately Off-Track

Country Challenges

Balancing rapid economic diversification with environmental sustainability and achieving net zero emissions by 2060.
Managing the water–food nexus, including improving irrigation efficiency from 9% towards the 2030 target of 75%.
Strengthening climate resilience, biodiversity conservation and sustainable natural resource management.
Further reducing food loss and waste beyond the 16% reduction achieved between 2019 and 2025.
Expanding women's economic participation, employment opportunities and inclusive growth across all regions.
Enhancing research commercialisation, innovation capacity and workforce skills to support emerging industries.

World Challenges

Country Lessons Learned

Integrate sustainable development into a long-term national vision supported by measurable targets and regular monitoring.
Adopt a whole-of-government approach that aligns economic, social and environmental policies under a unified implementation framework.
Use digital transformation to improve access to public services, healthcare, education and governance.
Combine social protection programmes with economic empowerment initiatives to promote inclusive growth rather than long-term dependency.
Invest simultaneously in renewable energy, innovation and human capital to achieve sustainable economic diversification.
Promote partnerships between government, the private sector, academia and international organisations to accelerate SDG implementation.

World Lessons Learned

Country Contribution

Renewable energy capacity increased from 3 GW (2019) to 6.2 GW (2025), with 27.3 GW of projects awarded under the National Renewable Energy Programme by 2025.
Life expectancy reached 7 years (2024), while basic healthcare coverage increased to 97.4% (2024).
Traffic fatalities declined by 4% since 2016, with the mortality rate falling from 28.41 to 12.13 per 100,000 populations.
Poultry self-sufficiency increased from 3% (2017) to 72% (2025), while caloric self-sufficiency increased from 34% (2017) to 66.7% (2025).
The adjusted net enrolment rate one year before primary school increased from 59% (2022) to 64.35% (2024), and tertiary gross enrolment rose from 69.35% (2022) to 83.88% (2024).
Beneficiary satisfaction with social services reached 7% (2025), exceeding the 75% target.

Saudi Arabia

Overview

Social Networks

Location

Region

SDGs Progress Tracker

United Nations Voluntary National Reports

Country Focal Point

SDG 1 (No Poverty) Score: 4 On-Track

SDGs World Progress: Achieved

SDGs World Progress: On-Track

SDGs World Progress: Moderately Off-Track

Country Challenges

World Challenges

Country Lessons Learned

World Lessons Learned

Country Contribution

World Contribution

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