Arab News, Thursday, May 25, 2023 | Thul-Qidah 5, 1444
Value of Saudi point-of-sale transactions falls for second week in a row
Saudi Arabia:
Spending by Saudis fell for the second week in a row in the seven days ending
May 20, according to point-of-sale transactions data released by the Saudi
Central Bank.
The food and beverage sector saw the biggest drop
in POS value, falling by SR136.17 million ($36.3 million), or 8 percent, the
figures published by the bank, also known as SAMA, showed.
The Kingdom’s aggregate POS transactions shrunk by
7.3 percent last week, totaling SR10.1 billion, driven by the decrease in food
and drink spending, showed the data.
Of the 17 sectors mentioned, 16 saw a decline in
their weekly POS transactions in the week ending May 20, with the jewelry sector
seeing a 0.1 percent rise.
According to the data, Saudi Arabia’s aggregate
week-by-week drop in POS value amounted to SR798.2 million during that period.
The previous week had seen a SR702.7 million fall
across all 17 sectors.
Another significant drop in the value of POS
transactions was recorded in restaurant and cafe spending, which saw a SR133.4
million decrease, or 7.7 percent, compared to the week prior.
Other sectors:
Miscellaneous goods and services — down SR94.5
million; previous week down SR113.5 million
Health — down SR70.8 million; previous week
down SR45.7 million
Gas stations — down SR49.6 million; previous
week down SR8.7 million
Clothing and footwear — down SR47.9 million;
previous week down SR38.8 million
Transportation — down SR46.8 million; previous
week down SR21.1 million
Other — down SR112.1 million; previous week
down SR126.9 million
The number of POS transactions declined by
around 10.6 million last week, compared to a fall of 1.1 million the week
before.
The 6.2 percent drop in the number of POS
transactions was led by a 3.1 million drop in the number of restaurant and cafe
purchases, data showed.
Food and beverage transactions also fell by 2
million in the week ending in May 20, reflecting a 4.8 percent decline week by
week.
Riyadh, which includes the largest share of POS
transactions, saw a 4.7 percent drop in the number of sales.
The Kingdom’s capital recorded a total POS
value of SR3.4 billion, down by SR158 million from the week before.
The number of POS transactions fell by 2.4
million from the previous week, reaching 48.5 million last week.
Jeddah followed with SR1.4 million worth of POS
which fell by SR114 million, whereas the number of transactions reached 19.7
million, down 1.2 million from the week before.