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Saudi Arabia emerges biggest K12 market in GCC

RIYADH, June 17, 2019

Colliers International, the global commercial real estate leader, has released its latest white paper on
the K12 education market in Saudi Arabia, which is worth more than $37 billion (2018).

The white paper is the seventh edition in a series of research papers focusing on education in the Mena region.

Saudi Arabia is the largest single K12 education market in the combined Arabian Gulf Region, by a factor of 3; and it has opened its doors to overseas investment.

"There are approximately 39,600 schools and 9.1 million K12 students in the Arabian Gulf and of this, Saudi Arabia accounts for over 85% of those schools and 68% of the students; that’s before adding in the country’s expansive population profile," remarked Mansoor Ahmed, the director at Colliers International Mena.

However, compared to its regional neighbours, the kingdom has a low private school penetration rate, currently under 20% of all schools and only 6% being internationally branded, which is the lowest in the region”, revealed Ahmed.

"Based on population estimates, the total minimum requirement for new student places is 1.1 million by 2030, rising to over 2.1 million for more optimistic projections. Even at an unchanged penetration rate, private schools will require approximately 200,000 to 400,000 new places in the next 11 years in order to sustain its current share in the K12 market," he added.

The paper provides a market projection of the K12 sector, especially in light with vision 2030, which lists the education sector as one of the main pillars for the kingdom’s economic and social growth with the largest departmental budget allocation of $ 51 billion.

"Sagia is leading the way by enabling access for international companies to establish operations in the kingdom. Subsequent to the recent lifting of foreign ownership restrictions, we are seeing a significant increase in investment from regional and international operators and investors," he added.-TradeArabia News Service




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