Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has announced that consumers in Saudi Arabia spent more than SR10 billion in a week through POS via 160.8 billion transactions from May 14 to 20.

The data showed that the second largest share of people’s expenditure, after their spending on various other things, which amounted to 22,203,000 transactions with a value of SR1,608,151,000, was in restaurants and cafes, where the number of transactions reached 48,328,000 with a value of SR1,588,494,000.

This was followed by food and beverages with the number of transactions reaching 39,375,000, with a value of SR1,562,638,000.

The fourth highest spending was on miscellaneous goods and services, as the number of transactions in the sector reached 16,917,000 with a value of SR1,047,356,000. The gas stations came in the fifth place, as the number of transactions reached 12,802,000, with a value of SR694,371,000.

People's spending varied during the week in several sectors, such as clothing and footwear, with the number of transactions reaching 4,131,000, with a total value of SR546,585,000, while the number of transactions in construction and building materials reached 1,213,000, with a value of SR322,755,000.

As for the education sector, the number of transactions reached 119,000, with a value of SR129,418,000 , and the number of transactions in electronic and electrical devices reached 848,000, with a value of SR201,680,000.

The number of transactions in the health sector during the week was 7,123,000, with a value of SR697,517,000, while the number of transactions in furniture reached 906,000, with a value of SR242,273,000, and the number of transactions in hotels reached 588,000, with a value of SR232,179,000.

SAMA's report indicated that the number of transactions in public utilities reached 1,355,000, with a value of SR96,053,000, and the number of transactions in jewelry reached 186,000, with a value of SR196,416,000. The number of transactions in entertainment and culture reached 2,058,000, with a value of SR217,816,000.

In the telecommunications sector, the number of transactions within a week reached 500,000 with a value of SR77,505,000, and the number of transactions in transportation reached 2,206,000, with a value of SR630,808,000.