Riyadh: The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) today released the Early Childhood Development and Child Well-Being Statistics Bulletin for 2024, showing that 82.33% of children aged 24-59 months were on track in terms of health, learning, and psychosocial well-being.

According to Saudi Press Agency, the bulletin’s findings reveal that the percentage of children aged 36-59 months enrolled in an early childhood education program stood at 9.54%. Among them, 10.68% were boys compared to 8.35% girls. The results indicated that the rate of participation in organized learning, one year before the official age for primary education enrollment, stood at 64.03%. This rate increased among Saudi girls aged five, reaching 65.58% compared to other categories.

The GASTAT bulletin emphasized that a positive and stimulating home environment for learning among children aged 36-59 months involves parents, guardians, or any adult family member engaging children in activities such as reading or browsing picture books, storytelling, singing, taking children outside the home, playing with them, naming objects, counting, and drawing. Some 82.9% of children aged 36-59 months were living in such a positive home environment, with girls achieving a rate of 83.4% compared to 82.42% for boys.

The results also showed that 33.4% of children under the age of five own one or two children’s books, while 90.58% of children aged 5-7 years use digital devices daily. Early childhood development is a multidimensional process that results in the gradual growth of a child’s motor, cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and self-regulation skills during the first few years of life.