2018 in Saudi Arabia

Decades:	1990s; 2000s; 2010s; 2020s; 2030s;
See also:	Other events of 2018; History of Saudi Arabia

The following lists events in the year 2018 in Saudi Arabia.

Incumbents

1 January – Saudi Arabia introduces a 5% value-added tax (VAT) for the first time, with exemptions for basic necessities, medical, cultural, educational products, and financial services.^[1]
12 January – Women were allowed to gather at a football game for the first time due to easing of the strict gender separation rules.^[2]
24 January – Dozens of camels were disqualified from a beauty pageant near the capital of Riyadh following reports about injections of botox to make camels more attractive.^[3]
Several men are arrested after a video allegedly showing a gay wedding circulated online.^[4]
Columnist Salah al-Shehi is arrested and later sentenced to five years in prison for alleging corruption in the royal court.^[4]

26 February – Saudi Arabia appears before the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to defend its record; the committee urged reforms including abolishing male guardianship and adopting a unified family code.^[5]

26 March – The Houthis launch a barrage of rockets at Saudi Arabia, killing an Egyptian man and leaving two others wounded in Riyadh.^[6]

30 April – VOX Cinemas opens Saudi Arabia's first multiplex cinema following the lifting of a 35-year cinema ban.^[1]

15 May – Authorities launch arrests of prominent women's rights activists, including Loujain al-Hathloul and Aziza al-Yousef, as part of a crackdown on the women's rights movement.^[5]
27 May – The Red Sea tourism project is incorporated as a closed joint-stock company.^[7]

24 June – The ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia is lifted, allowing women to legally drive across the Kingdom.^[1]
Historian and women's rights advocate Hatoon al-Fassi is arrested after commenting on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's reforms in the New York Times.^[4]

Activists Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sadah are arrested for opposing male guardianship laws.^[4]

Saudi Arabia withdraws its ambassador from Canada, restricts trade and travel, and repatriates Saudis following Canadian calls for release of detained human rights activists.^[4]

17 September – The Red Sea Development forms a 12-member advisory board.^[7]
Prosecutors formally request the death penalty for prominent dissident clerics Salman al-Awdah and Awad al-Qarni.^[4]

2 October – Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi enters the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and is murdered. Turkish intelligence records and later releases the details implicating Saudi officials.^[8]
23 October – The Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit in Riyadh sees the signing of deals worth over $50 billion in energy and infrastructure sectors.^[1]