Saudi Arabia sees 20 per cent increase in point-of-sale transactions

Dubai: Saudi Arabia saw a 20.4 per cent increase in point-of-sale transactions, with the telecommunications sector leading this growth, in the last week in August.

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) reported that transactions totalled $3.7 billion (Dh13.5 billion) for the week. The telecommunications sector experienced the most significant sectoral increase, rising 42 per cent to $35 million (Dh128 million).

The education sector was the only one to see a decline, dropping 38.6 per cent to $137 million (Dh503 million).

This decline marks the second consecutive decrease for the sector after four weeks of growth, coinciding with the academic year’s start on August 18.

Spending on food and beverages saw the second largest increase, up 40.8 per cent to $575 million (Dh2.1 billion). Clothing and footwear expenditures followed with a 31 per cent rise, reaching $209 million (Dh767 million) during the same period.

The smallest increase was seen in hotel spending, which grew by 6.1 per cent to $63 million (Dh231 million).

Spending on construction and building materials rose 9 per cent to $91 million (Dh334 million), while recreation and culture expenditures increased by 13.7 per cent to $89 million (Dh326 million).

Regionally, Riyadh led in POS transactions with 34 per cent of the total, amounting to $1.2 billion (Dh4.4 billion), a 14.3 per cent increase from the previous week. Jeddah followed with a 13.6 per cent rise, and Dammam came in third up 17.1 per cent.

Hail saw the most notable rise in spending, increasing by 37.9 per cent.

Tabouk and Buraidah also experienced increases, with spending rising 37.3 per cent to and 22.9 per cent to, respectively.

In terms of transaction volume, Hail had the highest increase at 24.9 per cent, reaching 4,055 transactions, followed by Tabouk with a 21.4 per cent rise, totalling 4,986 transactions.