Consumer Spending in Saudi Arabia Exceeds SR10 Billion Per Week

In a recent announcement, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) revealed that consumers in Saudi Arabia made purchases amounting to over SR10 billion within a span of one week, using point-of-sale (POS) systems via 160.8 billion transactions which occurred between May 14 and May 20.

The data showed that the second largest share of people’s expenditure, after their spending on various other things, which amounted to 22,203,000 transactions with a value of SR1,608,151,000, was in restaurants and cafes, where the number of transactions reached 48,328,000 with a value of SR1,588,494,000.

The category of food and beverages recorded a significant number of transactions, reaching 39,375,000, and amounted to a value of SR1,562,638,000.

The fourth highest spending category was on miscellaneous goods and services as the number of transactions reached 16,917,000, and a total value of SR1,047,356,000. Gas stations came in the fifth position, with the number of transactions reaching 12,802,000 and a value of SR694,371,000.

Throughout the week, people's spending varied across different sectors. For instance, in the clothing and footwear sector, the number of transactions amounted to 4,131,000, with a value of SR546,585,000. Whereas, the construction and building materials sector saw 1,213,000 transactions with a value of SR322,755,000.

In the education sector, the total number of transactions amounted to 119,000, with a value of SR129,418,000. Additionally, the electronic and electrical devices sector witnessed 848,000 transactions, with a value of SR201,680,000.

During the week, the health sector recorded a substantial number of transactions, reaching 7,123,000, and a total value of SR697,517,000. Similarly, the furniture sector saw 906,000 transactions with a value of SR242,273,000, while hotels registered 588,000 transactions with a value of SR232,179,000.