Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Around 1.8 percent of Saudi population experiences some form of disability, according to a survey, carried out by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).

The disability survey is one of the specialized national surveys, conducted by the authority to provide data on the types of disability, their causes, the practical and demographic characteristics of individuals with disabilities, and their geographical distribution.

The authority explained in its disability statistics report the results of the disability survey for the year 2023. The survey showed that the number of people with a visual disability in Saudi Arabia reached 21.8 percent, while the rate of individuals with a hearing disability stood at 7 percent. The percentage of individuals with a communication disability reached 2.7 percent while the rate of individuals with a communication disability stood at 2.7 percent.

The percentage of individuals who have a mobility disability (inability to walk) was 52.6 percent of the total individuals with one disability. The percentage of individuals in the age group of 2-4 years who had more than one disability reached 68.2 percent, while the rate of individuals who have one disability reached 831 percent of the total individuals, who have one or more disabilities under the same age group.

The results showed that the rate of individuals in the age group of 5-17 years, who have more than one disability, was 60 percent, while the percentage of individuals, who had one disability, was 40 percent of the total number of individuals who had one or more disabilities for the same age group. The percentage of individuals, in the age group was 18 years and over, who have more than one disability was 58 percent, while the percentage of individuals who had one disability was 42 percent of the total individuals who had one or more disabilities for the same age group.

According to the report, disease and congenital factors are among the most common causes of disability at a rate of 39.2 percent and 26.9 percent respectively. The percentage of families that include one person with a disability reached 79.7 percent for all degrees of severity of difficulty, while the percentage of families that include more than one person with a disability reached 20.3 percent of the total families that have members with disabilities.