The rise of data journalism in Arab reporting can be witnessed in various online news outlets as an integral part of investigative journalism practice. Training in data journalism, with a focus on data visualisation, has been dominant in investigative journalism training sessions and curriculum across the region in recent years. As part of a larger study that explores how investigative journalism in the Arab region, as part of the Global South, is developing differently to reflect the diversity of Arab journalism practices within the region, this conceptual study provides a mapping of how data visualisation has emerged in Arab countries, with a focus on how cultural elements uniquely shape the development of data journalism in the region.