Consumer spending rises 5% to SAR 120.9B in August

An ATM machine

Consumer spending in Saudi Arabia increased by 5% to SAR 120.9 billion in August 2024 from almost SAR 115.42 billion in the same month last year.

Consumer spending in the Kingdom represents total cash withdrawals, point-of-sale (POS) transactions, and e-commerce via Mada cards.

POS transactions saw a 7% year-on-year (YoY) rise to around SAR 58.5 billion in August.

The data showed that 899.2 million transactions were processed through 1.86 million POS terminals during the same period.

POS transactions represent the expenditures made by consumers using their ATM and credit cards at shopping malls, retail stores, pharmacies, and other retail outlets.

Cash withdrawals from ATMs dropped by nearly 3% YoY to about SAR 44.9 billion in August.

These withdrawals were processed through 15,500 ATMs in 123.4 million transactions.

E-commerce sales through Mada cards climbed 22% YoY to SAR 17.54 billion in August.

According to monthly data issued by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), these sales were made through 94.14 million transactions.

Online sales include transactions processed through Mada cards for payments and purchases made via online shopping and applications. However, these do not include transactions conducted using Visa, Mastercard, or other credit cards.