Saudi Cybersecurity Market Reaches $4.35bn

Saudi Arabia’s cybersecurity market grew 10.7 percent in 2025, reaching SR16.3 billion ($4.35 billion), as businesses and government entities spent more on digital protection, according to the National Cybersecurity Authority’s 2026 report.

Spending on Digital Protection

Private-sector organizations made up 69 percent of the market, spending SR11.2 billion. Government entities spent about SR5.1 billion, the remaining 31 percent, the NCA said in its Key Economic Indicators in the Cybersecurity Sector 2026 report.

The market is growing alongside Saudi Arabia’s digitization of government services under Vision 2030. The Kingdom’s Digital Government Strategy for 2025–2030 aims to contribute an estimated cumulative SR11.4 billion to gross domestic product and create more than 26,000 jobs by 2030. Its goals include integrated digital services and improved government efficiency, raising the need to protect public-sector systems and data.

The NCA launched its CyberIC program in 2022 to build national cybersecurity capabilities, localize technologies and training content, and spur the domestic industry. Its initiatives encourage locally produced cybersecurity products, services and solutions.

Market Growth and Cyber Resilience

The NCA said the cybersecurity sector contributed approximately SR20 billion to the Kingdom’s GDP at current prices in 2025. This represented a compound annual growth rate of 13.2 percent between 2023 and 2025. Product and service providers contributed SR9.7 billion directly, and indirect contributions totaled SR10.3 billion. The NCA said the total accounted for 0.42 percent of the Kingdom’s GDP and 0.71 percent of the GDP of non-oil activities.

Saudi Arabia has held the top spot in the cybersecurity index of the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook for the past three years. Mohamad Hashem, general manager for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain at Kaspersky, said increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks were turning cybersecurity into a strategic business priority as organizations adopted artificial intelligence, cloud computing, automation and connected technologies.

“This is driving greater investment in security solutions that can help businesses identify threats earlier, respond faster and maintain operational continuity,” Hashem told Arab News. He said the sector was becoming a more important economic contributor and stressed the need for continued investment in cyber resilience.

Economist Ahmad Chreim said global security spending was projected to reach between $240 billion and $308 billion in 2026, as AI raised cyber risks while also strengthening defensive capabilities. He pointed to AI-driven threat detection, cloud security, and identity and access management as growth opportunities, particularly as AI agents and automated systems increase the number of digital identities organizations must protect.

Workforce and Technology Needs

Saudi Arabia’s cybersecurity workforce exceeded 22,000 professionals in 2025, growing at a compound annual rate of approximately 5.9 percent between 2023 and 2025. Women made up 33 percent of the workforce, above the global average of around 22 percent.

Products accounted for SR8.3 billion, or 51 percent, of the market, while services brought in SR7.9 billion, or 49 percent. The report named endpoint security and management, network security, cybersecurity operations solutions, cybersecurity system integration and data security among the most in-demand products and services.

The NCA linked market growth to initiatives to boost competitiveness, attract investment and encourage innovation, alongside stronger public-private cooperation. The report drew on a study involving stakeholders from the public and private sectors, academic institutions and cybersecurity professionals. The NCA said it used a three-level classification framework covering five main categories and 25 activities across more than 100 cybersecurity products and services.

Hashem said Saudi Arabia was strengthening its cybersecurity ecosystem through digital transformation, critical infrastructure protection, local talent development and cross-sector collaboration. Effective cybersecurity can reduce disruption, minimize downtime and help organizations use resources more efficiently, he said. Protecting operational technology is essential to maintaining operations and supply-chain continuity. Hashem added that integrating security into the design and deployment of new technologies could help organizations manage risk while accelerating innovation and expanding digital services.