How many security companies are in Saudi Arabia?
Private security, guarding and security systems.
5,997
active registrations list security services activities — 0.4% of classified registrations.
Ministry of Commerce data · Q3 2026 to 16 Sep
5,997 active commercial registrations in Saudi Arabia list security services activities as of 16 September 2026 — 0.4% of all classified registrations, the 63rd-largest of the 64 sectors we track.
1,414 were registered in 2025 and are still active — +28.9% on 2024, faster than the +15% across all sectors.
Riyadh (2,603), Jeddah (937) and Makkah (490) lead. Relative to its size, Khobar is the most concentrated: security companies make up 1.9× the share they hold nationally.
74.5% of these registrations are companies rather than sole proprietorships, and the median company reports SAR 100,000 of paid-up capital.
- Active registrations
- 5,997
- 0.4% of classified CRs
- Registered in 2025
- 1,414
- +28.9% on 2024 · all sectors +15%
- Companies
- 74.5%
- 4,466 of 5,997
- Median company capital
- SAR 100k
- Paid-up, main registrations
Where security companies are registered
Column height: security companies by city · select a highlighted city for its page
Leading cities
Registrations, with concentration vs the national average
- Riyadh2,6031.4×
- Jeddah9371.4×
- Makkah4901.6×
- Dammam3541.3×
- Khobar2561.9×
- Madinah2331.0×
- Jubail930.5×
- Buraydah700.5×
- Taif680.5×
- Khamis Mushait580.6×
Concentration compares the sector's share of a city's registrations with its share nationally; 1.0× is average. Highlighted cities are above 1.15×.
Security services: registrations by year of creation
Still-active registrations by the year they were created, 2015–2025. Older years read lower because cancelled registrations drop out.
Most common activities
Registrations listing each national activity code
- Lock and safe installation and repair1,787Activity code 802002
- Private civil security guarding1,583Activity code 801011
- Alarm system monitoring and maintenance1,503Activity code 802001
- Bodyguard services632Activity code 801013
- Cash and valuables in transit492Activity code 801012
Business structures
Legal form of registrations in the sector
- LLC4,33372.3%
- Sole proprietorship1,51625.3%
- JSC791.3%
- General partnership310.5%
- SJSC180.3%
- Foreign branch120.2%
- Limited partnership50.1%
- GCC branch30.1%
Common questions
How many security companies are there in Saudi Arabia?
5,997 active commercial registrations list security services activities as of 16 September 2026, according to Ministry of Commerce data. A registration can list several activities, so it may also count in related sectors.
Which city has the most security companies?
Riyadh, with 2,603 — 43.4% of the national total. Jeddah follows with 937.
Is the number of security companies growing?
1,414 were registered in 2025 and are still active — +28.9% on 2024, faster than the +15% across all sectors.
Can a foreign investor set up in security services in Saudi Arabia?
Most activities are open to 100% foreign ownership with a MISA investment licence, though some carry conditions such as minimum capital, a Saudi partner or sector-regulator approval. Alpha Consultancy confirms the conditions for your exact activity code before you apply.
Figures are Alpha Consultancy's analysis of the Ministry of Commerce's open datasets on the Saudi Open Data Platform (open.data.gov.sa): the register of active commercial registrations (CRs) as of 16 September 2026.
Active CRsinclude main and branch registrations, as in the Ministry's own totals. Registered in a period counts CRs created in that period that were still active on 16 September 2026; registrations since cancelled are not in the source file, so older periods read lower than the number originally issued.
Partial quarter. The Ministry's Q3 2026 file is labelled as the quarter end but only contains registrations created up to 16 September 2026, so every figure here is as of that date and the latest quarter in the charts (marked *) is incomplete.
Sector figures cover the 1,443,322 active registrations (74.7%) that appear in the Ministry of Commerce's activity association file, which lists activities for registrations created up to 31 December 2025. Registrations created after that date are not yet classified. A registration counts once in each sector it is active in, so sectors overlap.
No individual business is identified on these pages; only aggregate counts are published.
Starting a business in security services?
We confirm the licence conditions for your exact activity code, then take you from MISA licence to commercial registration and municipal licence.