Healthcare’s next growth market
When people think about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s healthcare transformation, attention often gravitates towards Riyadh, Jeddah or the major national initiatives associated with Vision 2030. Yet some of the most significant developments are taking place in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province.
Home to the country’s energy sector, major industrial centres and some of Saudi Arabia’s largest employers, the region is quietly emerging as one of the Kingdom’s most attractive healthcare markets. It combines strong population growth, rising insurance coverage, increasing private sector participation and a healthcare workforce that will need to expand significantly over the next decade.
For healthcare providers, investors and international partners, the Eastern Province offers a useful case study in how economic development and healthcare reform increasingly move hand in hand. A new report from Knight Frank Healthcare in Saudi Arabia, Opportunities in the Eastern Province, explores the key drivers and trends within the region for healthcare operators.
An economic powerhouse
The Eastern Province is home to approximately 5.1m people, making it Saudi Arabia’s third most populous region after Riyadh and Makkah, with more than half the population Saudi nationals. The province includes the highly urbanised Dammam Metropolitan Area, encompassing Dammam, Khobar and Dhahran, alongside major population centres such as Al Ahsa, Jubail and Qatif.
It remains the centre of Saudi Arabia’s oil and energy industry and generates more than half the Kingdom’s oil exports. At the same time, major economic diversification projects are creating new sources of employment and attracting additional residents. Developments such as King Salman Energy Park, The Rig tourism project, the Tharwa Masterplan and large-scale infrastructure programmes are reshaping the economic landscape.
As a result, the province’s population is expected to grow to approximately 6.7m people by 2035. Growth on this scale inevitably brings healthcare challenges, with more demand for primary care, diagnostics, specialist services and hospital capacity.
The insurance advantage
Yet population growth alone does not explain why the Eastern Province is attracting such attention from healthcare operators. One of the most striking findings in the report is the level of private health insurance coverage. According to the National Health Survey 2024, 55.9 per cent of adults over the age of 15 in the Eastern Province have private health insurance. This is the highest level in Saudi Arabia and exceeds Riyadh’s coverage rate of 51.8 per cent.
People with insurance generally use healthcare services more frequently, seek specialist care earlier and are more likely to access preventive services. The report notes that private healthcare utilisation in the Eastern Province consistently exceeds national averages, particularly within the Dammam Metropolitan Area.
Large employers play an important role. Saudi Aramco alone provides healthcare coverage for approximately 73,000 employees and their families, while continuing to expand its workforce. Similar arrangements exist across other major employers operating in the region. As Saudi Arabia moves towards broader insurance coverage under the Health Sector Transformation Programme, these trends are expected to accelerate further.
A healthcare system under pressure
Despite substantial healthcare infrastructure already in place, the report identifies significant future capacity requirements. The Eastern Province currently has a bed density of around two beds per 1,000 population, slightly above the Saudi average of 1.9 but still well below the global average of 2.9. The public sector remains the largest provider of inpatient care, accounting for almost half of all inpatient facilities and the largest share of hospital beds. Private providers, however, dominate outpatient care, operating approximately 60 per cent of outpatient facilities across the province, reflecting a wider trend across Saudi Arabia.
Public providers continue to carry much of the acute care burden, while private operators increasingly focus on ambulatory services, diagnostics, specialist care and elective treatment. Yet demand is beginning to outpace existing capacity.
The report estimates that the Dammam Metropolitan Area alone will require an additional 1,285 private sector beds by 2035. Al Ahsa is expected to require a further 412 private beds during the same period. Together, this represents demand equivalent to at least eight additional hospitals, potentially creating more than 10,000 new healthcare jobs, significantly contributing to workforce expansion in the sector.
Chronic disease shaping future demand
Like many countries, Saudi Arabia faces a growing burden of non-communicable disease. Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death nationally, accounting for 38.5 per cent of deaths. Kidney disease, cancer and gastrointestinal conditions also represent significant causes of morbidity and mortality. These patients often need long-term monitoring, multidisciplinary care, specialist clinics and ongoing disease management. Healthcare systems built around episodic treatment increasingly need to support early diagnosis and continuity of care.
The Eastern Province is particularly exposed to this challenge because of its demographic profile. Nearly three-quarters of the population falls within the working-age group, while almost a quarter are children and young people. This demographic creates sustained demand for occupational health services, preventive care, chronic disease management and women’s and children’s health services.
Since 2015, visits to private sector facilities have been steadily increasing in KSA, DMA, and Al Ahsa, when compared to the public sector, indicating a growing preference for private healthcare services. This factor reduces the financial and operational burden on public hospitals but also indicates a growing awareness of the importance of personal responsibility in healthcare. With 72.4 per cent of the Saudi population dying before the age 64 (see diagram), there is a growing need to focus on prevention across the sector.
From hospitals to integrated care
The Eastern Province has been divided into three health clusters covering more than 30 hospitals with around 4m beneficiaries. The objective is to create more integrated healthcare pathways across prevention, chronic disease management, urgent care, palliative care and maternal health services, reflecting a broader shift taking place across Saudi healthcare.
Rather than treating hospitals as standalone institutions, policymakers increasingly want coordinated systems that follow patients across multiple settings and stages of care. Over time, the clusters are expected to become semi-autonomous entities capable of generating revenue through insurance and other funding mechanisms.
For international healthcare organisations, this system creates opportunities that extend beyond individual facilities into system design, workforce development, digital health and integrated care models. Leading healthcare operators are already expanding their presence across the region.
CMRC has launched a long-term care facility between Dhahran and Al Khobar. Al Moosa Health Group is developing additional facilities near Khobar Corniche. Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group has entered a public-private partnership to develop a hospital in Jubail Industrial City, while Dallah Healthcare has expanded through acquisitions.
The report highlights a recent SAR660m transaction involving Dallah Healthcare’s acquisition of Al Ahsa Medical Services Company and Al Salam Medical Services Company, underlining growing confidence in the market’s long-term potential.
The road to success
The Eastern Province is a strategic healthcare growth hub, with top operators expanding through acquisitions, specialised facilities, and public-private partnerships, creating an integrated care model. Growing insurance coverage, increasing chronic disease burden, integrated care reforms and rapid economic expansion all point towards rising demand for diagnostics, specialist clinics, rehabilitation services, preventive health programmes, digital health solutions and workforce development.
Already occupying a unique position within Saudi Arabia’s economy and during the next decade, the Eastern Province may also become one of the most important testing grounds for the Kingdom’s evolving healthcare model. Success will depend on whether providers can create healthcare systems capable of managing chronic disease more effectively and delivering care in ways that match the expectations of a rapidly changing society.
knightfrank.com.sa
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