Consumer spending rises 11% to SAR 87.8 bln in August: SAMA

Saudi banknotes

Consumer spending in Saudi Arabia rose 11% year-on-year (YoY) to SAR 87.78 billion during August 2021, from SAR 79.21 billion in the same period a year earlier, data issued by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) showed.

Consumer spending in the Kingdom advanced by 10% YoY to about SAR 701.4 billion in August.

Consumer spending includes the sum of cash withdrawals and point-of-sale (POS).

The following table shows consumer spending in Saudi Arabia:

POS value in the Kingdom jumped 32% to nearly SAR 40.97 billion in August, compared to SAR 31.15 billion in the same month last year.

Data showed that a total of 465.8 million transactions were processed through 879,500 points-of-sale in the month.

POS transactions represent what is spent by consumers using their ATM cards and credit cards in shopping malls, retail stores, pharmacies, etc.

Cash withdrawals declined by 3% to SAR 46.8 billion in August, from SAR 48.1 billion last year.

The withdrawals were processed through 16,830 ATMs and through 131.97 million transactions.

Historical data and details of consumer spending