Think twice.
Numbeo's Safety Index puts Riyadh at 75/100 for crime — that makes it read about the same as than Saudi Arabia's national picture overall (54/100 vs 54/100).
City page · part of Saudi Arabia
The one number a country page can't give you
What people who actually live in Riyadh report
Numbeo aggregates thousands of resident-submitted perception surveys into a per-city Crime Index (higher = worse) and its inverse, a Safety Index — the only real city-granularity crime signal feeding this page, alongside Saudi Arabia's national advisory, political, health, and police-trust data.
Crime Index
24.6
Safety Index
75.4
Sub-scores
Same real inputs as Saudi Arabia's national page, with crime swapped for Riyadh's own Numbeo number above.
Local know-how
Staying safe in Riyadh, specifically
- • Riyadh is more conservative than Jeddah or the Eastern Province.
- • LGBT rights are not recognized in the kingdom and public displays of affection, (For both LGBT and straight couples) are frowned on and might lead to criminal prosecutions.
- • In 2002-2004, Riyadh was the site of numerous terrorist attacks on Westerners, including shootings, car bombings and kidnappings, culminating in the May 12, 2003 compound bombings that killed 35 and injured over 160.
- • Although Riyadh is sometimes alleged to have one of the lowest crime rates in the world, standard precautions should be taken.
Legal status (national law)
Illegal Penalty: Capital punishment, prison terms (indeterminate length, max. term unknown), flogging, fines, deportation
Source: Wikipedia — LGBTQ rights by country →Pack this, know this
The little things that trip people up
Plug & voltage
G · 230V
Driving side
right
Emergency
police: 911 / ambulance: 911 / fire: 911
SIM / Data
The four mobile operators in Saudi Arabia, incumbent Al Jawal, Emirati rival Mobily, Kuwaiti Zain (Vodafone Network) and STC newcomer Jawwy are fiercely competitive, with good coverage (in populated areas) and good prices. A starter pack with prepaid SIM and talktime starts from about SR75, and you can sign up in most any larger mobile shop (bring your passport). Local calls are under SR0.5/minute
Cash vs. Card
The Saudi currency is the Saudi riyal, denoted by the symbol "ريال" or "SR" (ISO code: SAR). It is fixed at 3.75 riyals to the US dollar. The riyal is divided into 100 halalas, which are used to mark some prices, but, in practice, all payments are rounded to the nearest riyal and odds are you probably will never see any halala coins. Bills come in values of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 riya
How this compares to Saudi Arabia
Numbeo's Safety Index puts Riyadh at 75/100 for crime — that makes it read about the same as than Saudi Arabia's national picture overall (54/100 vs 54/100).
See the full Saudi Arabia page and all receipts →