Saudi private school students to rise to 1.1M in 2030: Colliers

School students 

Colliers International expects the number of students enrolled at Saudi Arabia’s private schools to rise from around 820,000 in 2022 to 1.1 million in 2030.  

This implies an increase from nearly 19,000 additional seats in 2022 to approximately 200,000 seats in 2030, and from 10 schools in 2022 to around 100 schools in 2030, Colliers International added in its report.   

K-12 students enrolled in Saudi private schools made up 15% of the total, the lowest in the region, with Saudi students enrolled in private schools making up 13%.

These statistics underpinned the promising potential of the Kingdom’s private education while maintaining the Saudi citizens’ sustained demand, especially for high-quality education.

The government's commitment to supporting the growth of the education sector, growth-supporting demographic characteristics in the school education industry, and the Saudi population dominated by youth all enhanced the long-term demand for higher education.

Riyadh's student population is expected to rise from nearly 350,000 in 2022 to approximately 450,000 in 2030 if the city's population reaches 10.9 million, and to 600,000 by 2030 if the population reaches 15 million.

This means that the number of seats would rise from nearly 7,500 in 2022 to 100,000 by 2030 in the first scenario and to 200,000 in the second scenario.

The American curriculum is the most popular across the Kingdom. However, amid the growing number of expats, especially in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia expects more demand for the British curriculum schools.

The secondary cities, including Makkah, Madinah, Abha, and Al Ahsa, are still lacking high-quality schools but are subject to major expansion plans in line with Saudi Vision 2030.

Riyadh's school education sector, particularly the private sector, provided many attractive opportunities for educational operators, developers, and investors, but it also introduced several challenges, including high capital requirements to attract and retain qualified staff.