Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in China instead of Saudi Arabia, you would:

Health

be 82.5% less likely to be obese

In Saudi Arabia, 35.4% of adults are obese as of 2016. In China, that number is 6.2% of people as of 2016.

Economy

be 10.9% less likely to be unemployed

In Saudi Arabia, 5.6% of adults are unemployed as of 2022. In China, that number is 5.0% as of 2022.

make 63.7% less money

Saudi Arabia has a GDP per capita of $50,200 as of 2022, while in China, the GDP per capita is $18,200 as of 2022.

Life

be 44.9% less likely to die during infancy

In Saudi Arabia, approximately 12.3 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In China, on the other hand, 6.8 children do as of 2022.

be 43.8% more likely to die during childbirth

In Saudi Arabia, approximately 16.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In China, 23.0 women do as of 2020.

have 25.0% fewer children

In Saudi Arabia, there are approximately 13.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In China, there are 10.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Basic Needs

be 27.0% less likely to have internet access

In Saudi Arabia, approximately 100.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In China, about 73.0% do as of 2021.

Expenditures

spend 53.8% less on education

Saudi Arabia spends 7.8% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. China spends 3.6% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

Geography

see 5.5 times more coastline

Saudi Arabia has a total of 2,640 km of coastline. In China, that number is 14,500 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

China: At a glance

China (sometimes abbreviated PRC) is a sovereign country in East/Southeast Asia, with a total land area of approximately 9,326,410 sq km. For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, MAO's successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight. Since the early 1990s, China has increased its global outreach and participation in international organizations.
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How big is China compared to Saudi Arabia? See an in-depth size comparison.

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