Matchup file

Iraq vs Saudi Arabia

117 shared metrics.

IraqLeads in 50

vs117 shared

Saudi ArabiaLeads in 67

Turn the comparison into a round

Think you can spot the next winner?

Saudi Arabia leads by 17 metrics. Use the same instinct in a quick real-data brawl.

Play this matchup Biggest Gaps

Country briefing

What matters for both sides

Short real-world notes so the comparison reads like more than a stat strip.

Iraq

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Formal name: Republic of Iraq.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

Southern Iraq's Ahwar is one of the world's largest inland delta systems in a hot, arid environment.

UNESCO

Saudi Arabia

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Formal name: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

Saudi Arabia holds most of the Empty Quarter, the largest continuous sand sea on Earth.

NASA

Analysis

Saudi Arabia leads in 67 of 117 shared metrics, while Iraq leads in 50.

Iraq's Firms Hit by Power Outages is 61.0x that of Saudi Arabia (41.35% of firms vs 0.67% of firms).

Iraq's Firms Making Informal Payments is 48.8x that of Saudi Arabia (50.96% of firms vs 1.0% of firms).

Iraq's Electoral Democracy Index is 22.1x that of Saudi Arabia (0.37 vs 0.02).

Iraq's Renewable Energy (%) is 10.0x that of Saudi Arabia (1.1% vs 0.10%).

Iraq's Population Density is 5.6x that of Saudi Arabia (103.83 /km² vs 15.68 /km²).

Key Comparisons

Firms Hit by Power OutagesIraq leads

Iraq

41.35% of firms

Saudi Arabia

0.67% of firms

Firms Making Informal PaymentsIraq leads

Iraq

50.96% of firms

Saudi Arabia

1.0% of firms

Electoral Democracy IndexIraq leads

Iraq

0.37

Saudi Arabia

0.02

Renewable Energy (%)Iraq leads

Iraq

1.1%

Saudi Arabia

0.10%

Population DensityIraq leads

Iraq

103.83 /km²

Saudi Arabia

15.68 /km²

Freedom of Expression IndexIraq leads

Saudi Arabia

Iraq

58 km

Saudi Arabia

2.6K km

98% lower

Comparison of Iraq and Saudi Arabia across 117 metrics
				Winner
Firms Hit by Power Outages	41.35% of firms	0.67% of firms	6098% higher	Iraq
Firms Making Informal Payments	50.96% of firms	1.0% of firms	4878% higher	Iraq
Electoral Democracy Index	0.37	0.02	2206% higher	Iraq
Renewable Energy (%)	1.1%	0.10%	1000% higher	Iraq
Population Density	103.83 /km²	15.68 /km²	562% higher	Iraq
Freedom of Expression Index	0.57	0.09	521% higher	Iraq
Firms Asked for Bribes	50.47% of firms	9.5% of firms	429% higher	Iraq
Teen Birth Rate	58.01 per 1k	11.11 per 1k	422% higher	Iraq
Liberal Democracy Index	0.22	0.05	368% higher	Iraq
Irrigated Land	35.3K km²	7.6K km²	365% higher	Iraq
Infant Mortality	20.8 per 1k births	4.9 per 1k births	324% higher	Iraq
Forest Coverage (%)	1.9%	0.45%	318% higher	Iraq
Unemployment Rate	15.52%	3.9%	298% higher	Iraq
Child Mortality	22.6 per 1k births	6.2 per 1k births	265% higher	Iraq
Youth Unemployment Rate	32.01% of youth labor force	10.01% of youth labor force	220% higher	Iraq
Suicide Rate	3.0 per 100k	0.95 per 100k	213% higher	Iraq
Political Corruption Index	0.89	0.33	174% higher	Iraq
Government Debt (% GDP)	27.4% of GDP	13.1% of GDP	109% higher	Iraq
Official Languages Count	2.0	1.0	100% higher	Iraq
Coastline Length	58 km	2.6K km	98% lower	Saudi Arabia
Foreign Patents	98	2.6K	96% lower	Saudi Arabia
Capital Elevation	34 m	612 m	94% lower	Saudi Arabia
R&D Spending (% GDP)	0.04% of GDP	0.56% of GDP	93% lower	Saudi Arabia
Air Passengers	3.76M	47.98M	92% lower	Saudi Arabia
Protected Land (%)	1.5%	18.5%	92% lower	Saudi Arabia
Water Stress (%)	120.52%	974.17%	88% lower	Saudi Arabia
Electricity Use (Per Capita)	1.4K kWh/person	11.8K kWh/person	88% lower	Saudi Arabia
Researchers	164.28 per 1M	1.1K per 1M	85% lower	Saudi Arabia
Solar Electricity Share	0.29%	1.8%	84% lower	Saudi Arabia
Tourism Revenue	$955,000,000	$5,960,000,000	84% lower	Saudi Arabia
Health Spending Per Capita	$254.62	$1,593.37	84% lower	Saudi Arabia
Merchant Fleet Size	74	433	83% lower	Saudi Arabia
GNI Per Capita	$6,030	$35,630	83% lower	Saudi Arabia
Dependency Ratio	66.65% of working-age pop.	36.55% of working-age pop.	82% higher	Iraq
Water Withdrawal	42.42 B m³	23.38 B m³	81% higher	Iraq
Energy Use (Per Capita)	1.4K kg oil eq/person	7.5K kg oil eq/person	81% lower	Saudi Arabia
Land Area	434.1K km²	2.15M km²	80% lower	Saudi Arabia
GDP Per Capita (PPP)	$14,464.32	$71,375.37	80% lower	Saudi Arabia
EV Chargers per 100,000 PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	0.06 per 100k people	0.31 per 100k people	80% lower	Saudi Arabia
GDP (Nominal)	$279,641,257,615.39	$1,239,804,533,333.33	77% lower	Saudi Arabia
ATMs per 100,000 Adults	14.1 per 100k	58.04 per 100k	76% lower	Saudi Arabia
CO2 Per Capita	5.1 t/person/yr	20.38 t/person/yr	75% lower	Saudi Arabia
All-Time Olympic Medals	1.0 medals	4.0 medals	75% lower	Saudi Arabia
Seafood Consumption per Person	2.9 kg/person/yr	11.35 kg/person/yr	74% lower	Saudi Arabia
Electric Generating Capacity	31.34M kW	119.62M kW	74% lower	Saudi Arabia
Milk Consumption per Person	22.18 kg/person/yr	83.65 kg/person/yr	73% lower	Saudi Arabia
Agricultural Land (%)	21.83%	80.77%	73% lower	Saudi Arabia
Birth Rate	23.26 per 1k	13.41 per 1k	73% higher	Iraq
Doctors (per 1,000)	1.0 per 1k	3.4 per 1k	70% lower	Saudi Arabia
Military Spending	2.4% of GDP	7.3% of GDP	68% lower	Saudi Arabia
Mobile Money Accounts	11.87% of adults	36.5% of adults	67% lower	Saudi Arabia
Digital Payments Used	24.98% of adults	75.72% of adults	67% lower	Saudi Arabia
Credit Card Ownership	10.12% of adults	30.13% of adults	66% lower	Saudi Arabia
Fertility Rate	3.0 children/woman	1.8 children/woman	65% higher	Iraq
Armed Forces Personnel	459.0K	282.0K	63% higher	Iraq
Total CO2 Emissions	238.67 Mt CO2e	652.51 Mt CO2e	63% lower	Saudi Arabia
Electricity Generation	169.46 TWh	454.64 TWh	63% lower	Saudi Arabia
Broadband Access (%)	17 per 100 people	44 per 100 people	61% lower	Saudi Arabia
Women's Political Empowerment	0.56	0.35	60% higher	Iraq
Railway Length	2.3K km	5.4K km	58% lower	Saudi Arabia
Domestic Patents	635	1.4K	55% lower	Saudi Arabia
Youth Population (%)	36.58%	23.82%	54% higher	Iraq
Nurses & Midwives	2.6 per 1k	5.5 per 1k	52% lower	Saudi Arabia
Corruption Perceptions Index	28 pts	57 pts	51% lower	Saudi Arabia
Scientific Publications	13.4K	25.8K	48% lower	Saudi Arabia
Women in Parliament (%)	28.88%	19.87%	45% higher	Iraq
Hospital Beds (per 1,000)	1.3 per 1k	2.2 per 1k	41% lower	Saudi Arabia
Hypertension Prevalence	47.4% of adults	34.2% of adults	39% higher	Iraq
Food Waste per Person	204.97 kg/person/yr	148.88 kg/person/yr	38% higher	Iraq
Tobacco Use Prevalence	20.1% of adults	14.7% of adults	37% higher	Iraq
Mobile Subscriptions (%)	100 per 100 people	157.78 per 100 people	37% lower	Saudi Arabia
Vehicles per 1,000 People	153.77 per 1k people	222.77 per 1k people	31% lower	Saudi Arabia
Median Age	20.3 years	29.2 years	30% lower	Saudi Arabia
Imports (% GDP)	33.2% of GDP	25.57% of GDP	30% higher	Iraq
Smoking Rate	19.2%	14.9%	29% higher	Iraq
Exports (% GDP)	37.51% of GDP	29.11% of GDP	29% higher	Iraq
Air Pollution (PM2.5)	38.18 µg/m³	53.15 µg/m³	28% lower	Saudi Arabia
UNESCO World Heritage Sites	6.0 sites	8.0 sites	25% lower	Saudi Arabia
Life Evaluation Score	5.2 pts	6.8 pts	24% lower	Saudi Arabia
Human Development Index	0.69	0.90	23% lower	Saudi Arabia
Airports	69	89	22% lower	Saudi Arabia
Renewable Energy (%)	0.58%	0.73%	20% lower	Saudi Arabia
Highest Elevation	3.6K m	3.0K m	20% higher	Iraq
Internet Users (%)	82%	100%	18% lower	Saudi Arabia
Population	42.92M	36.54M	17% higher	Iraq
Urban Population (%)	69.89%	84.46%	17% lower	Saudi Arabia
Forest Area	8.3K km²	9.8K km²	16% lower	Saudi Arabia
Elderly Population (%)	3.4%	3.0%	16% higher	Iraq
Road Traffic Death Rate	21.5 per 100k	18.5 per 100k	16% higher	Iraq
Adult Literacy Rate	84.06%	97.93%	14% lower	Saudi Arabia
Border Neighbors	6.0	7.0	14% lower	Saudi Arabia
Land Border Length	3.8K km	4.3K km	11% lower	Saudi Arabia
Death Rate	3.9 per 1k	3.5 per 1k	10% higher	Iraq
Obesity Rate	37.36%	41.11%	9% lower	Saudi Arabia
Life Expectancy	72.3 years	78.7 years	8% lower	Saudi Arabia
Health Spending (% GDP)	4.3% of GDP	4.6% of GDP	7% lower	Saudi Arabia
Firms with Female Top Manager	1.6% of firms	1.8% of firms	7% lower	Saudi Arabia
Minimum Paid Vacation Days	20 days/yr	21 days/yr	5% lower	Saudi Arabia
Insufficient Physical Activity	52.02% of adults	54.13% of adults	4% lower	Saudi Arabia
Sanitation Access (%)	98.5%	97.61%	1% higher	Iraq
Electricity Carbon Intensity	683.1 gCO2/kWh	691.95 gCO2/kWh	1% lower	Saudi Arabia
Beer Consumption	0.11 L/person/yr	0 L/person/yr	ranked higher	Iraq
Spirits Consumption	0.04 L/person/yr	0 L/person/yr	ranked higher	Iraq
Time Zones Count	2.0 time zones	2.0 time zones	equal	Iraq
Coal Electricity Share	0%	0%	ranked higher	Iraq
Wind Electricity Share	0%	0.35%	ranked lower	Saudi Arabia
Electricity Access (%)	100%	100%	equal	Iraq
Inflation Rate	-12.3%	1.7%	ranked lower	Saudi Arabia
Alcohol Consumption	0.24 L/adult/yr	0 L/adult/yr	ranked higher	Iraq
GDP Growth Rate	-1.55%	2.0%	ranked lower	Saudi Arabia
Nobel Laureates Born per Million People	0.02 per 1M people	0 per 1M people	ranked higher	Iraq
Lowest Elevation	0 m	0 m	ranked higher	Iraq
Can Raise Emergency Money	95.98% of adults	95.89% of adults	equal	Iraq
Current Account Balance (% of GDP)	-1.7% of GDP	-3% of GDP	ranked higher	Iraq
FDI Inflows (% GDP)	-2.74% of GDP	1.7% of GDP	ranked lower	Saudi Arabia
All-Time Olympic Gold Medals	0 gold medals	0 gold medals	ranked higher	Iraq
McDonald's Outlets per Million PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	0 per 1M people	3.2 per 1M people	ranked lower	Saudi Arabia

Build a Matchup

Country A

Country B

Next move

Pick the next country or jump back in.

Play this matchup

Iraq Saudi Arabia

Analysis

Saudi Arabia leads in 67 of 117 shared metrics, while Iraq leads in 50.

Iraq's Firms Hit by Power Outages is 61.0x that of Saudi Arabia (41.35% of firms vs 0.67% of firms).

Iraq's Firms Making Informal Payments is 48.8x that of Saudi Arabia (50.96% of firms vs 1.0% of firms).

Iraq's Electoral Democracy Index is 22.1x that of Saudi Arabia (0.37 vs 0.02).

Iraq's Renewable Energy (%) is 10.0x that of Saudi Arabia (1.1% vs 0.10%).

Iraq's Population Density is 5.6x that of Saudi Arabia (103.83 /km² vs 15.68 /km²).

Key Comparisons

Firms Hit by Power OutagesIraq leads

Iraq

41.35% of firms

Saudi Arabia

0.67% of firms

Firms Making Informal PaymentsIraq leads

Iraq

50.96% of firms

Saudi Arabia

1.0% of firms

Electoral Democracy IndexIraq leads

Iraq

0.37

Saudi Arabia

0.02

Renewable Energy (%)Iraq leads

Iraq

1.1%

Saudi Arabia

0.10%

Population DensityIraq leads

Iraq

103.83 /km²

Saudi Arabia

15.68 /km²

Freedom of Expression IndexIraq leads

Iraq

0.57

Saudi Arabia

0.09

Firms Hit by Power Outages

41.35% of firms

0.67% of firms

Firms Making Informal Payments

50.96% of firms

1.0% of firms

Electoral Democracy Index

0.37

0.02

Renewable Energy (%)

1.1%

0.10%

Population Density

103.83 /km²

15.68 /km²

Freedom of Expression Index

0.57

0.09

Firms Asked for Bribes

50.47% of firms

9.5% of firms

Teen Birth Rate

58.01 per 1k

11.11 per 1k

Liberal Democracy Index

0.22

0.05

Irrigated Land

35.3K km²

7.6K km²

Infant Mortality

20.8 per 1k births

4.9 per 1k births

Forest Coverage (%)

1.9%

0.45%

Unemployment Rate

15.52%

3.9%

Child Mortality

22.6 per 1k births

6.2 per 1k births

Youth Unemployment Rate

32.01% of youth labor force

10.01% of youth labor force

Suicide Rate

3.0 per 100k

0.95 per 100k

Political Corruption Index

0.89

0.33

Government Debt (% GDP)

27.4% of GDP

13.1% of GDP

Official Languages Count

2.0

1.0

Coastline Length

58 km

2.6K km

Iraq vs Saudi Arabia

Think you can spot the next winner?

What matters for both sides

Iraq

Saudi Arabia

Analysis

Key Comparisons

All Metrics

Firms Hit by Power Outages

Firms Making Informal Payments

Electoral Democracy Index

Renewable Energy (%)

Population Density

Freedom of Expression Index

Firms Asked for Bribes

Teen Birth Rate

Liberal Democracy Index

Irrigated Land

Infant Mortality

Forest Coverage (%)

Unemployment Rate

Child Mortality

Youth Unemployment Rate

Suicide Rate

Political Corruption Index

Government Debt (% GDP)

Official Languages Count

Coastline Length

Foreign Patents

Capital Elevation

R&D Spending (% GDP)

Air Passengers

Protected Land (%)

Water Stress (%)

Electricity Use (Per Capita)

Researchers

Solar Electricity Share

Tourism Revenue

Health Spending Per Capita

Merchant Fleet Size

GNI Per Capita

Dependency Ratio

Water Withdrawal

Energy Use (Per Capita)

Land Area

GDP Per Capita (PPP)

EV Chargers per 100,000 People

GDP (Nominal)

ATMs per 100,000 Adults

CO2 Per Capita

All-Time Olympic Medals

Seafood Consumption per Person

Electric Generating Capacity

Milk Consumption per Person

Agricultural Land (%)

Birth Rate

Doctors (per 1,000)

Military Spending

Mobile Money Accounts

Digital Payments Used

Credit Card Ownership

Fertility Rate

Armed Forces Personnel

Total CO2 Emissions

Electricity Generation

Broadband Access (%)

Women's Political Empowerment

Railway Length

Domestic Patents

Youth Population (%)

Nurses & Midwives

Corruption Perceptions Index

Scientific Publications

Women in Parliament (%)

Hospital Beds (per 1,000)

Hypertension Prevalence

Food Waste per Person

Tobacco Use Prevalence

Mobile Subscriptions (%)

Vehicles per 1,000 People