The point-of-sale (POS) transactions dropped 43% to SAR 16.2 billion in April, from SAR 28.5 billion in January, data issued by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) showed.

 

January 2020 was adopted as the base month for comparison.

 

POS sales fell by 33% year-on-year (YoY) and 34% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) in April.

 

In April, Saudi Arabia continued its precautionary measures to curb the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, including partial and complete lockdowns across the Kingdom.

 

The POS sales fell the most by 83% to 93% in the education, hotels and clothing and footwear sectors. The decline was attributed to suspension of educational institutes, Umrah, and flights, as well as the closure of shopping malls.

 

POS sales in the telecommunication and health sectors reported the least declines of 20% and 33%, respectively.

 

On the other hand, the food and beverage sector was the only riser, with a surge of 80% in POS sales, compared to January. The rise came as supermarkets maintained their activity, despite the preventive measures adopted by the Kingdom.

 

POS Transactions By Sector

(SAR mln)

Sector

January 2020

April 2020

Variation

Food & Beverages

3,576.6

6,436.9

+80%

Telecommunications

159.9

127.2

(20%)

Healthcare

2,205.3

1,469.5

(33%)

Electronics and electric appliances

1,004.0

596.7

(41%)

Construction materials

1,330.9

739.8

(44%)

Public Utilities

295.7

153.4

(48%)

Miscellaneous goods & services*

2,646.0

1324.5

(50%)

Furniture

1,004.3

318.4

(68%)

Recreation & Culture

1,214.0

375.2

(69%)

Restaurants & Cafes

3,344.0

991.4

(70%)

Transport

1,924.3

432.1

(78%)

Clothes and footwear

2,734.8

476.9

(83%)

Jewelry

961.0

100.5

(90%)

Hotels

1,018.2

89.0

(91%)

Education

1,038.9

71.9

(93%)

Other

4,073.7

2,473.9

(39%)

Total

28,531.6

16,177.3

(43%)

* Includes personal care sector, maintenance, hygiene and other.

 

Moreover, March was less impacted when compared to April, as the preventive measures were adopted by the Kingdom in the second half of the month.

 

POS Transactions By Sector

(SAR mln)

Sector

January 2020

March 2020

Variation

Food & Beverages

3,576.6

5,731.8

+60%

Construction materials

1,330.9

1,529.5

+15%

Electronics and electric appliances

1,004.0

1,088.1

+8%

Healthcare

2,205.3

2,195.6

(0.4%)

Telecommunications

159.9

153.6

(4%)

Miscellaneous goods & services*

2,646.0

2,328.8

(12%)

Public Utilities

295.7

248.6

(16%)

Furniture

1,004.3

808.3

(20%)

Transport

1,924.3

1,445.2

(25%)

Restaurants & Cafes

3,344.0

2,271.0

(32%)

Recreation & culture

1,214.0

782.7

(36%)

Jewelry

961.0

508.7

(47%)

Clothes and footwear

2,734.8

1,314.5

(52%)

Hotels

1,018.2

343.6

(66%)

Education

1,038.9

302.5

(71%)

Other

4,073.7

3,740.1

(8%)

Total

28,531.6

24,792.6

(13%)

* Includes personal care sector, maintenance, hygiene and other.

For sector performance in April, POS transactions saw a drop in all sectors, except for food and beverage, which recorded a 99% surge.

 

POS Transactions By Sector

(SAR mln)

Sector

April 2019

April 2020

Variation

Food & Beverages

3,232.3

6,436.9

+99%

Telecommunications

154.4

127.2

(18%)

Healthcare

2,009.1

1,469.5

(27%)

Electronics and electric appliances

865.1

596.7

(31%)

Construction materials

1,202.7

739.8

(38%)

Public utilities

276.5

153.4

(45%)

Miscellaneous goods & services*

2,404.9

1,324.5

(45%)

Restaurants & Cafes

2,300.7

991.4

(57%)

Recreation & culture

912.4

375.2

(59%)

Furniture

1,061.8

318.4

(70%)

Transport

1,672.1

432.1

(74%)

Clothes and footwear

2,746.8

476.9

(83%)

Hotels

534.9

89.0

(83%)

Education

693.2

71.9

(90%)

Jewelry

1,130.4

100.5

(91%)

Other

2,931.3

2,473.9

(16%)

Total

24,128.7

16,177.3

(33%)

* Includes personal care sector, maintenance, hygiene and other.

 

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