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Saudi Arabia recorded a 6% year-on-year increase in total consumer spending during August, reaching SAR 142 billion compared to SAR 133.5 billion in the same month of the previous year. Data published by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) shows that point-of-sale (POS) transactions grew by 5% year-on-year to approximately SAR 65.7 billion, driven by over 1.1 billion operations across 2.5 million active POS terminals located in retail outlets and commercial centers.
The shift toward digital payments gained further momentum, highlighted by a strong 26% year-on-year surge in e-commerce sales processed through the Mada network, which totaled SAR 36.95 billion across 196.9 million operations. In contrast, traditional cash reliance continued to decline, as ATM cash withdrawals dropped by roughly 5% year-on-year to SAR 39.4 billion. Total active bank cards issued in the Kingdom reached 71.2 million, supported by a network of 14,400 local ATMs.
These retail figures reflect solid domestic economic growth and steady progress in the Kingdom's cashless vision under Saudi Vision 2030. Investors and market watchers will monitor whether robust retail demand continues to support corporate earnings across retail, banking, and digital payments sectors in the coming quarters.
