{"id":838158,"date":"2026-07-31T12:56:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/838158\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T12:56:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:56:33","slug":"saudi-consumer-spending-holds-above-3bn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/838158\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi consumer spending holds above $3bn \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n\tRIYADH: Saudi Arabia\u2019s weekly point-of-sale spending remained above $3 billion in the week ending July 25, although transaction values extended their recent decline, central bank data showed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tTotal POS transactions fell 5.8 percent week on week to SR12.26 billion ($3.27 billion), according to the latest data released by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arabnews.com\/tags\/saudi-central-bank-sama\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Saudi Central Bank<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe total number of transactions also declined 4.5 percent to 226.16 million from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arabnews.com\/node\/2652139\/business-economy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">236.70 million the previous week<\/a>, extending a broader softening trend seen over several consecutive periods.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tEducation was the only bright spot, with spending rising 6.2 percent to SR104.7 million even as the number of transactions in the category fell 6.4 percent, suggesting higher average ticket sizes rather than increased footfall.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tJewelry leads declines\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe sharpest drop was recorded by the jewelry sector, with spending plunging 16.2 percent to SR346.8 million and transaction numbers down 11.1 percent, making it the weakest-performing category\u00a0of the week.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tPersonal care spending fell 8.8 percent to SR122.7 million, while laundry services dropped 8 percent to SR45.8 million and public utilities and services declined 7.5 percent to SR50.6 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tSome categories proved more resilient, with\u00a0hotel spending edging\u00a0down just 1.3 percent to SR295.3 million, while trade of vehicles and spare parts slipped 1.1 percent to SR491.7 million.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/an_weekly-ksa-pos-activity-graphic-chart_digital_1.jpg\" width=\"967\"\/><br \/>\u00a0<br \/>Food and beverages hold top spot\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe largest share of POS spending was held by the food\u00a0and beverages sector,\u00a0despite a 5.9 percent fall to SR1.91 billion.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tRestaurants and cafes were responsible for\u00a0the second-largest share, down 4.5 percent to SR1.64 billion, while apparel, clothing and accessories declined 7.4 percent to SR964.3 million, remaining the third-largest named category.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/an_weekly-ksa-pos-activity-graphic-chart_digital_2.jpg\" width=\"967\"\/><br \/>\u00a0<br \/>Riyadh leads\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tRiyadh, which continued to account for the largest share of POS activity nationally, saw transaction values fall 4.7 percent to SR4.16 billion, with the number of transactions down 3.3 percent to 72.57 million.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tJeddah recorded a 6.1 percent decline in transaction value to SR1.73 billion, while Dammam slipped 6.2 percent to SR578.9 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tMakkah posted the steepest decline among the Kingdom\u2019s major cities, with transaction value down 7.4 percent to SR497.5 million and transaction numbers falling 5.4 percent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arabnews.com\/tags\/point-sale-0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">POS data<\/a>, tracked weekly by SAMA, provide a real-time gauge of consumer spending patterns and the continued expansion of digital payments across Saudi Arabia. The figures also reflect the growing footprint of POS infrastructure beyond the Kingdom\u2019s largest cities, reaching smaller urban centers and a widening range of service sectors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe steady rollout of digital payment channels supports Saudi Arabia\u2019s Vision 2030 goals of expanding electronic transactions and strengthening the Kingdom\u2019s digital economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RIYADH: Saudi Arabia\u2019s weekly point-of-sale spending remained above $3 billion in the week ending July 25, although transaction&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":838159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[45,49,48,46],"class_list":["post-838158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}