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Iran vs Saudi Arabia

On research quality in 2022–now, Saudi Arabia ranks #15 in the world and Iran #16, of 192 countries. Iran stands higher in 12 of the 26 fields both publish in, Saudi Arabia in 14.

Iran

World rank, 2022–now
#16
#21 all time
Works, 2022–now
268k
fractional
Top-10% rate
16.3%
share of its work among the world’s most cited
Open access
46%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Research and Theory, Molecular Medicine, Filtration and Separation.

Saudi Arabia

World rank, 2022–now
#15
#31 all time
Works, 2022–now
156k
fractional
Top-10% rate
23.4%
share of its work among the world’s most cited
Open access
58%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: General Dentistry, Orthodontics, Modeling and Simulation.

Who leads in each field?

Iran stands higher in 12 of 26 fields, Saudi Arabia in 14. Each bar is that side’s standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

Iran 1214 Saudi Arabia
  1. #22Agricultural and Biological Sciences#24
  2. #29Arts and Humanities#37
  3. #17Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#25
  4. #37Business, Management and Accounting#16
  5. #14Chemical Engineering#11
  6. #9Chemistry#6
  7. #27Computer Science#13
  8. #31Decision Sciences#18
  9. #9Dentistry#3
  10. #20Earth and Planetary Sciences#24
  11. #46Economics, Econometrics and Finance#15
  12. #16Energy#9
  13. #12Engineering#11
  14. #15Environmental Science#16
  15. #11Health Professions#9
  16. #15Immunology and Microbiology#24
  17. #13Materials Science#10
  18. #18Mathematics#6
  19. #19Medicine#24
  20. #18Neuroscience#21
  21. #6Nursing#10
  22. #10Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics#14
  23. #28Physics and Astronomy#26
  24. #17Psychology#31
  25. #39Social Sciences#28
  26. #23Veterinary—

Standing is the percentile of world rank within each field, 2022–now; the printed number is the rank itself. A dash means the field is too small there to rank. How sides are compared.

How has their output grown?

50k100kIran69k in 2025Saudi Arabia45k in 20251990200020102020

Fractional works per year. The latest, partial year is left off.

Which publishes more research, Iran or Saudi Arabia?

Iran publishes 1.7× as much research as Saudi Arabia in 2022–now (268k against 156k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, Iran or Saudi Arabia?

23.4% of Saudi Arabia's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 16.3% for Iran.

Where does their research happen?

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