Consumer spending in Saudi Arabia increased during August to $37.87 billion

Listen to the article. The audio text is automated, generated by an automated system

Consumer spending in Saudi Arabia increased during the month of August 2026 by 6.35% on an annual basis, supported by the increase in the value of point-of-sale sales in addition to the noticeable activity in the e-commerce sector.

A compiled statistic prepared by Al Arabiya Business, based on the latest data issued by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), showed that the volume of consumer spending in Saudi Arabia increased to $37.87 billion (142.02 billion riyals), compared to $35.61 billion (133.53 billion riyals) in August 2025.

Consumer spending in Saudi Arabia includes point-of-sale sales and cash withdrawals, in addition to e-commerce sales.

The value of point-of-sale sales in Saudi Arabia increased by about 4.98% in August 2026 on an annual basis, reaching $17.52 billion (65.69 billion riyals), compared to $16.69 billion (62.57 billion riyals) in the same month last year.

The food and beverage sector topped consumer spending in the Kingdom through point-of-sale sales in August at $2.74 billion (10.28 billion riyals), followed by the restaurants and cafes sector at $2.11 billion (7.9 billion riyals), then clothing and accessories at $1.53 billion (5.73 billion riyals).

Consumers in Saudi Arabia spent $1.3 billion (4.86 billion riyals) on the transportation sector during last August, and $1.21 billion (4.55 billion riyals) at gas stations.

The value of point-of-sale operations in the health sector (medical services, pharmacies, medical supplies, and personal care) amounted to the equivalent of $1.03 billion (3.86 billion riyals), $867.85 million (3.25 billion riyals) in the education sector, and $375.3 million (1.4 billion riyals) in the jewelry sector.

The month of August 2026 recorded more than 1.1 billion point-of-sale transactions in Saudi Arabia, while the number of point-of-sale devices in the Kingdom reached 2.47 million devices, including point-of-sale devices issued by banks and payment companies.

632.49 million point-of-sale transactions were carried out via mobile phone, worth $9.52 billion (35.7 billion riyals), and 438.9 million point-of-sale transactions via cards, worth $7.11 billion (26.67 billion riyals).

The value of e-commerce in Saudi Arabia via “Mada” cards increased by 26.03% during the month of August, reaching $9.85 billion (36.95 billion riyals), compared to $7.82 billion (29.32 billion riyals) in the same period last year.

It includes “mada” card transactions used for payment and purchases through shopping sites, electronic applications, and e-wallets, and does not include transactions made via Visa, MasterCard, and other credit cards.

The number of e-commerce transactions increased by 27.3% during the month of August 2026, reaching 196.93 million transactions, compared to 154.68 million transactions in the same month last year.

E-commerce sales jumped in 2025 by 64.7% on an annual basis, recording $86.72 billion (325.2 billion riyals), compared to $52.64 billion (197.42 billion riyals) in 2024.

On the other hand, consumer spending in Saudi Arabia in August 2026 witnessed a decline in the value of cash withdrawals through banks and “Mada” by 5.44% on an annual basis, to reach $10.5 billion (39.38 billion riyals), compared to $11.1 billion (41.65 billion riyals) in the same month last year.

The value of withdrawals from “Mada” amounted to about $6.65 billion (24.93 billion riyals), compared to $7.01 billion (26.3 billion riyals) in August 2025, decreasing by 5.2%.

The value of withdrawals from banks also decreased by about 5.8% to $3.86 billion (14.46 billion riyals), compared to $4.09 billion (15.35 billion riyals) in August of last year.

The total number of cash withdrawals reached 125.49 million transactions in August 2026, while the number of cards issued reached 71.21 million cards, and the number of ATMs reached 14.37 thousand machines.