Age-specific fertility trends and the reproductive behavioral landscape of Saudi women An analytical sociological study during the period (2019-2023)

Abstract

     This research aimed to describe and analyze age-specific fertility trends among Saudi women during the years 2019-2022 and the reality of reproductive behavior among Saudi women in 2023. The research adopted a historical/documentary-analytical approach to the data published by the General Authority for Statistics on estimates of fertility rates for Saudi women, categorized by age groups (5-year intervals) during the period 2019-2022, and data on Saudi women from the 2023 Women's Health and Reproductive Care Survey. This survey was conducted on a sample of 51,720 women of reproductive age from all regions of the Kingdom. Data were collected in two stages: telephone interviews and electronic questionnaires.

      The research revealed several findings, including a decline in age-specific fertility rates during the period from 2019 to 2022 for the age groups 15-19, 20-24, and 25-29, while for the age groups 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, and 45-49, fertility rates declined from 2019 to 2021 and then increased in 2022. As for the reproductive behavior of Saudi women, the majority of the sample indicated that the decision to have children is made jointly with the husband. The overall average number of births for the survey sample was found to be 3.3. The age group from 30-34 and above through the end of the reproductive stage constituted the highest percentage of women in the sample who had children. The research concluded by providing possible sociological explanations based on the available data and, in light of the findings, offered research recommendations as a starting point for further field studies on the same topic.