By jurisdiction

Saudi Arabia

Two accreditation bodies are listed for Saudi Arabia in the Global ACI registry — SAAC nationally, and the Gulf-wide GAC.

Source: Official source ↗ ·

Population36,973,555 (2025)World Bank Open Data · retrieved
GDP$1,276.9B (2025)World Bank Open Data · retrieved
GDP per capita$34,536.7 (2025)World Bank Open Data · retrieved
Trade (goods + services, % of GDP)57.9% (2025)World Bank Open Data · retrieved
Foreign direct investment (net inflows)$32.6B net inflow (2025)World Bank Open Data · retrieved
Income levelHigh income (2026)World Bank Open Data · retrieved
Inflation (annual)2.08% (2025)World Bank Open Data · retrieved
Human Development Index0.9 · World rank #37 (2023)UNDP Human Development Report 2025 · retrieved
CapitalRiyadhWorld Bank Open Data · retrieved
CurrencySaudi riyal (SAR)Wikidata · retrieved
Founded23 September 1932 — Proclamation of the Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaWikipedia · retrieved

Verified against primary sources as of 21 August 2026. Laws and figures change — confirm current requirements before relying on this page.

Saudi Arabia: 4 verified country-layer records — legal permit (1), mandatory scheme (1), conditional requirement (2). 1 accreditation body is listed for this jurisdiction. Each record below carries its legal instrument, who it binds, and the date it was last verified against its primary source.

Records
4
Accreditation bodies
1

National accreditation

Regional accreditation body serving this jurisdiction

Mandatory and regulatory records

Verified from primary sources, grouped by how binding each one is. None of these is a certificate; each carries the instrument it comes from and the date it was last checked.

Legal permit

How this jurisdiction is structured

Global ACI lists SAAC and GAC together, not SAAC alone

Global ACI's registry lists two organisations under Saudi Arabia: the Saudi Accreditation Center (SAAC) and the GCC Accreditation Center (GAC). GAC is a regional accreditation body serving the Gulf Cooperation Council states and Yemen, headquartered in Riyadh; SAAC is Saudi Arabia-specific. The registry itself does not label one "national" and the other "regional" — a single "Saudi Arabia's accreditation body is SAAC" sentence is not made.

Official source ↗Last verified:

SAAC's public register

SAAC describes itself as "the national accreditation body," covering laboratories, inspection bodies, certification bodies and halal certification bodies. Its public register (no login required) lists 990 accredited bodies, searchable by service type and status.

Official source ↗Last verified:

GAC's regional mandate

GAC states it was "established with the approval of the ministers concerned with standardization in the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf and the Republic of Yemen."

Official source ↗Last verified:

NCOSH coordinates OHS standards, separately from the Labour Law

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) was established under Cabinet Resolution No. 379 (7/7/1443 AH), under the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, as part of a National Strategic Program for Occupational Safety and Health. It runs an incident reporting/investigation platform and OHS training programmes. The Labour Law's (M/51) own OHS provisions are a separate, currently locked topic — sourced from a portal (BOE) this research round could not open.

Official source ↗Last verified:

Incentive and support programs

One program is verified and active as of 2026-08-21 — figures below are dated and should be re-checked before relying on them.

SIDF financing

Funder
Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF)
What it provides
Short, medium and long-term financial solutions for industry, mining, energy (with a renewables focus) and logistics — including working-capital, supply-chain, project, acquisition and multipurpose financing, plus advisory services. As of 2026 Q2 SIDF states 5,358 loans since 1974, 72% to SMEs.
Eligibility
Businesses in SIDF's covered sectors; specific criteria depend on the financing type.

Not yet confirmed: No specific rates or lending limits were found on SIDF's own page as of this verification.

Official source ↗Last verified:

Trade & market access

5 agreements
AgreementPartiesDateNote
GCC Economic AgreementGCC members1981-11-01 (as stated by source)
GAFTA (Greater Arab Free Trade Area)Arab League members1981-01-01 (as stated by source)
GCC-EFTA FTASwitzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein2015-07-01 (as stated by source)
GCC-Singapore FTASingapore2013-09-01 (as stated by source)
Arab States Agreement on Trade in Services LiberalizationArab League members2019-10-14 (as stated by source)

General Authority for Foreign Trade (GAFT), Saudi Arabia · retrieved

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