Non-Saudis have a higher physical activity rate reaching 62.5 percent, compared to Saudis with a rate of 54.1 percent.
This is according to the 2024 physical activity bulletin, released by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) on Sunday, December 1.
The report indicates that 58.5 percent of individuals aged 18 and above engage in at least 150 minutes of physical activity weekly.
Only 18.7 percent of children and adolescents aged 5-17 adhere to the recommended 60 minutes of daily activity.
It also showed that the percentage of males practicing physical activity was higher than that of females, reaching 23.2 percent among males compared to 14 percent among females.
The most active demographic is adults aged 30-39, with 62.6 percent meeting weekly physical activity standards, while elderly participation decreases to 12.2 percent among those 80 and above.
18.7 percent of children and adolescents aged 5-17 were physically active for 60 minutes or more daily, while 35.3 percent were sedentary for over three hours daily, excluding school hours.
The report revealed that non-Saudi children and adolescents were more physically active than their Saudi counterparts, at 19.4 percent.
According to the report, walking or cycling for transportation to commute was the most common form of physical activity among adults, practiced by 56 percent of surveyed people. This was followed by leisure activities, at 39 percent, and work-related physical activity, at 31 percent.
Al-Baha Region saw the highest daily physical activity participation among children and adolescents at 30.4 percent, while Riyadh had the lowest at 14.7 percent.
The bulletin provides insights into physical activity levels in Saudi Arabia, based on data from the 2024 National Health Survey and GASTAT’s population estimates.
