United Nations World Data Forum 2026

The United Nations World Data Forum brings together the world's data and statistics community to improve the data behind sustainable development. The 2026 Forum, the sixth, is hosted by Saudi Arabia through the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) and held in person in Riyadh, with the UN Statistics Division acting as secretariat.

Who attends

The Forum serves a broad community: national statistical offices and government data teams, UN agencies and international organizations, academics, civil society, and private-sector data and technology firms. It is a UN conference, so there are no attendance fees, but in-person places were allocated by the organizers to balance representation across countries and data communities.

• National statistical offices and ministries
• UN agencies and international organizations
• Data scientists, researchers and academics
• Civil society and private-sector data providers

Programme and formats

The programme combines an opening ceremony, five thematic high-level plenaries, a parallel programme built from open proposals and a closing session. Beyond panels and short talks, sessions can take the form of announcements, live demonstrations and learning labs for sharing data solutions.

• Opening ceremony and closing session
• Five thematic high-level plenaries
• Parallel sessions, demos and learning labs

Saudi Statistics Forum and online access

GASTAT holds the 2nd Saudi Statistics Forum on 9 November 2026 on the sidelines of the UN Forum, under the theme "Towards an Integrated Statistical System", with an accompanying exhibition. The opening, the high-level plenaries, the first seven parallel session rooms and the closing session are streamed online for registered virtual participants.

Tickets & passes

• In-person participation — Free: Free; applications closed on 1 October 2026 and places were allocated by the organizers
• Virtual participation — Free: Free online access to the streamed sessions; registration open