Approximately 15% of the population of Saudi Arabia is Shia Muslim.
Posted by Bill O’Reilly’s No Spin News and Analysis, Checked
- Sources
- 1 contradict3 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
Bill O’Reilly’s No Spin News and AnalysisJul 30, 2026
Sources put the Shia share at roughly 10-15%, so the claim's 15% sits at the top of the range and is only partly supported. As a share of citizens, the 2023 State Department report gives 10-12%, and the 2022 census shows 41.6% of residents are foreigners, so the share of the total population is lower still.
A detail. The sources confirm the gist; the verdict faults a detail such as a date, number or wording.
Our two reads agree a voice other than the host says this, not on which one. A guest makes this claim. Listeners heard it, so it counts against the post, and on the guest's own record.
What was said
… Make note of the fact that that was a joint attack with Saudi Arabia, who maybe has had enough of Iran's actions, even when Saudi Arabia has about 15% of their population who are Shia Muslims. The Federal Reserve decided to hold interest rates steady. Nine members voted in favor of maintaining the interest rates; three members supported a quarter point rate hike. Price of oil is still in the mid $80 range. …
Bill O’Reilly’s No Spin News and Analysis · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. The 2023 State Department report puts Shia Muslims at 10 to 12 percent of citizens, below the claimed 15 percent, and the 2022 census shows 41.6 percent of residents are foreigners, so the share of total population would be lower still.[2]
Supports. The 2017 State Department report and a 2020 Pew-based source both put Shia Muslims at 10 to 15 percent of the population.[3][4][5]
Context. A 2011 Reuters piece cites approximately 15 percent of a 19 million population, but notes there are no definitive statistics and that government and advocate estimates differ.[1]
Sources
5 sources: 1 fact-checker, 2 primary, 2 not rated
- 1Unrest hits Saudi Arabia's Shi'ite eastern province, Riyadh hints Iran to blamereuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 22023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Saudi ...state.gov · primary source · cited for: contradicts
- 32017 Report on International Religious Freedom: Saudi Arabia2017-2021.state.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 45 facts about religion in Saudi Arabiapewresearch.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Religious securitisation and institutionalised sectarianism in Saudi Arabiatandfonline.com · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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