Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation continues to accelerate, with internet penetration reaching 99.6% in 2025 and 96% of Saudi users accessing e-government services, alongside strong growth in online shopping, artificial intelligence adoption and digital entertainment.
According to the Saudi Internet 2025 report issued by the Communications, Space and Technology Commission, digital technologies have become deeply embedded in everyday life, supported by expanding infrastructure, faster connectivity and growing reliance on digital platforms and services across multiple sectors.
Digital government and e-commerce lead adoption
The report found that 96% of users in Saudi Arabia accessed electronic government services, while 85.9% used online banking services, highlighting the central role of digital channels in everyday transactions.
Online shopping also recorded significant adoption, with 76.9% of users purchasing products or services online. Local websites accounted for 95.3% of online shopping activity, compared with 55.4% for international websites.
Clothing and footwear ranked as the most frequently purchased online category, accounting for 87.7% of digital purchases.
Internet penetration reaches 99.6%
Internet penetration in Saudi Arabia reached 99.6% in 2025, while 61.3% of internet users spent seven hours or more online each day.
Peak usage was recorded between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., with Friday emerging as the most active day of the week in terms of internet usage.
The figures highlight the extent to which digital connectivity has become integrated into work, entertainment, communication and access to services across the Kingdom.
Artificial intelligence gains momentum
Artificial intelligence adoption also recorded significant growth, reaching 45.2% among internet users.
ChatGPT ranked first among the most downloaded applications on smart devices in Saudi Arabia, followed by Google Gemini and DeepSeek, reflecting the growing role of generative AI tools in everyday digital activity.
Online gaming experience continues to improve
Saudi Arabia also recorded substantial improvements in online gaming performance, with an 89% improvement in average latency across the most popular games.
Smartphones ranked as the leading gaming platform at 22.1%, followed by PlayStation at 21.8%, Xbox at 3.9%, PCs at 2.9%, and Nintendo Switch at 0.8%.
The report showed that 29.2% of users play online games daily, while 32.1% play weekly, 31% play intermittently and 7.7% play monthly.
Roblox topped the list of the most downloaded gaming applications on smart devices, followed by Subway Surfers, Whiteout Survival, Last War, Garena Free Fire and PUBG Mobile.
Latency performance was also notably strong, with League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics recording an average latency of 11 milliseconds, while EA Sports FC, Call of Duty, Valorant and Fortnite recorded an average of 14 milliseconds.
Data consumption and connectivity speeds rise
Mobile internet data consumption averaged 53GB per person per month, equivalent to three times the global average.
The median mobile internet download speed reached 216 Mbps in 2025, up 6% from 203 Mbps in 2024. Fixed internet recorded a median download speed of 151 Mbps, representing a 25% year-on-year increase.
Total internet traffic in Saudi Arabia reached 69 million terabytes, with local traffic accounting for 56% and international traffic 44%. Mobile and fixed networks each accounted for 50% of total internet traffic.
Saudi domains reach 84,000
Saudi domain registrations also continued to expand, reaching 84,000 domains in 2025, representing annual growth of 18%, including 26,000 newly registered domains during the year.
The private sector accounted for 96% of Saudi domains, while government and individual registrations represented 2% each. Meanwhile, approximately 99% of traffic was served through secure domain extensions using DNSSEC.
The fifth edition of the Saudi Internet 2025 report forms part of the Communications, Space and Technology Commission’s efforts to track developments across the Kingdom’s internet ecosystem, measure usage patterns and infrastructure performance, and support the continued growth of the digital economy and innovation.
