2021–2025
International Comparison
Every country is measured the same way: one OpenAlex benchmark dataset for publications and ClinicalTrials.gov alone for trials. Countries appear in alphabetical order, after Saudi Arabia; nothing on this page is a ranking.
The benchmark dataset is not the PubMed corpus used on every other page. The two use different definitions and are never mixed: Saudi Arabia's benchmark total is shown on its own below.
Period 2021–2025, the same for every country. Population from the World Bank (total population, 2023). Trials from ClinicalTrials.gov, by country of a listed site; withdrawn studies and expanded-access records are not counted, and a listed site does not prove that participants were recruited there. Publications from one OpenAlex benchmark dataset for every country. Peer groups: Gulf and regional (Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates); Similar size and income (Canada, Malaysia, Poland, Spain); Leading trial hubs (Denmark, Singapore, South Korea, United Kingdom).
Saudi Arabia beside fourteen peer countries, as rates
Countries in alphabetical order, after Saudi Arabia; nothing on this page is a ranking.
Showing all fourteen peers. The period is fixed at 2021–2025 on this page, so every country is compared over the same years.
Saudi Arabia in the OpenAlex benchmark
Works with a Health Sciences primary topic and at least one Saudi author, 2021–2025, all work types including case reports. Not the PubMed corpus, which uses a different definition.
87,969
Source: OpenAlex benchmark · 2021–2025 provisional
Industry-led clinical trials listing a Saudi site
Interventional, recorded start 2021–2025, lead sponsor is a health-product company, or a contract research organisation with one as collaborator. The same count as on Clinical Studies And Industry.
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · 2021–2025 provisional
Population of Saudi Arabia, 2023
World Bank total population (SP.POP.TOTL), the denominator of the per-million chart.
33.7 million
Source: World Bank · 2023
Registrations are ClinicalTrials.gov records; a listed site doesn't prove recruitment in Saudi Arabia.
Journals that follow ICMJE policy require clinical trials to be registered before enrolment begins, in ClinicalTrials.gov or another accepted registry; observational studies have no such requirement, so registered observational studies are a small, selective part of observational research. These figures count studies recorded in ClinicalTrials.gov; they do not measure total research volume, study completion or financial investment.
A listed site does not prove that participants were recruited in the country. Withdrawn studies and expanded-access records are not counted.
01 / TRIALS AND POPULATION
Industry-Led Clinical Trials Per Million People
Industry-led interventional trials with a recorded start in 2021–2025 listing at least one site in the country, per million people (World Bank total population, 2023). A multinational trial counts in full for every country where it lists a site.
The axis starts at zero and ends at 200; the dashed line is the peer median for the group shown. Countries in alphabetical order, after Saudi Arabia.
Rules applied: withdrawn studies removed, and the company rule. Industry means a lead sponsor that is a company making or selling health products, as defined in the industry guide (section 2), or a contract research organisation with such a company listed as collaborator; hospital groups and other providers that ClinicalTrials.gov labels “industry” are not counted.
Showing 2021–2025 provisional
Saudi Arabia Peer country Peer median, all fourteen peers: 29.1
02 / TRIALS AND PUBLICATIONS
Industry-Led Clinical Trials Per 1,000 Health Publications
Industry-led interventional trials listing a site in the country, per 1,000 of the country’s works in the OpenAlex benchmark dataset, 2021–2025. A multinational trial counts in full for every country where it lists a site.
The axis starts at zero and ends at 50; the dashed line is the peer median for the group shown. Countries in alphabetical order, after Saudi Arabia.
Publications are counted in full for every country with an author on the work; the benchmark adds case reports back so Saudi figures are counted the same way as world figures. Rules applied: withdrawn studies removed, and the company rule. Industry means a lead sponsor that is a company making or selling health products, as defined in the industry guide (section 2), or a contract research organisation with such a company listed as collaborator; hospital groups and other providers that ClinicalTrials.gov labels “industry” are not counted.
Showing 2021–2025 provisional
Saudi Arabia Peer country Peer median, all fourteen peers: 7.6
Records Behind This Figure
* Not final: counts for these years usually rise at later updates, as many studies are registered after they start and recent papers are still being added. On this page: trials and publications 2025.