The Saudi Central Bank reported that point-of-sale transactions across the Kingdom totaled 16.9 billion riyals in the week ending July 4. This represented a 34.3 percent surge from the prior week and coincided with a 19.8 percent rise in transaction volume to 268.8 million. The increase spanned all major sectors and comes as the country continues to advance its digital payment infrastructure. Consumer spending indicators appear to have strengthened at the beginning of the month according to the central bank’s data.
Freight transport together with postal and courier services posted the strongest sectoral advance of 68.4 percent to 70.3 million riyals. Laundry services rose 60.8 percent to 74.1 million riyals while auto and equipment rental spending climbed 52.9 percent to 82 million riyals. Telecommunication expenditures gained 47.1 percent to 264.4 million riyals in the same period according to the central bank’s weekly compilation.
Spending on education recorded the smallest increase at 3.5 percent to 211.1 million riyals. Construction and building materials advanced 18 percent to 441.7 million riyals and jewelry purchases grew 20.1 percent to 573.5 million riyals. Gas station transactions rose 22 percent to 1.1 billion riyals as part of the broad-based recovery.
Food and beverages retained the largest share of POS outlays with a 39.8 percent increase to 2.76 billion riyals. Restaurants and cafes followed with a 27.9 percent rise to 2.02 billion riyals while apparel clothing and accessories climbed 45.6 percent to 1.49 billion riyals. These categories continued to dominate daily consumer activity tracked through the national payment network.
Riyadh accounted for the highest volume with transaction values up 22.3 percent to 5.5 billion riyals and the number of transactions rising 14.5 percent to 83.8 million. Jeddah saw a 31.8 percent increase to 2.31 billion riyals while Makkah registered the steepest gain among principal cities at 40.9 percent to 666.9 million riyals. Dammam and Madinah posted advances of 25.6 percent and 43.1 percent respectively according to the Saudi Central Bank figures.
The weekly POS data tracked by the Saudi Central Bank offers a timely gauge of consumer trends and digital payment adoption. A Saudi Central Bank announcement in April 2026 stated that electronic payments made up 85 percent of total retail payments in 2025 up from 79 percent in 2024 with the number of such transactions reaching 14.6 billion. Card transactions at points of sale have multiplied more than 30 times since 2014 according to central bank assessments.
These patterns align with the Financial Sector Development Program under Saudi Vision 2030 which set a target of 70 percent non-cash transactions by 2025 and aims for 80 percent by 2030 from a 2019 baseline of 36 percent. The program has driven infrastructure expansion that by 2024 produced a network in which 96 percent of POS activity was contactless and more than half cardless via mobile devices. Official statistics confirm the 2025 target was exceeded as part of sustained efforts to reduce cash reliance.
