Question: Is consumer spending in Saudi Arabia rising these days, or falling?
According to the weekly card-spending data issued by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), the week of 13–19 September 2026 · 2–8 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH recorded total card spending of about SAR 12.92 billion across Saudi Arabia, up 4.18% on the same week last year. This week is the twelfth in a row in which card spending recorded positive annual growth, meaning that the upward trend is a continuing pattern of about three months, not a passing figure from a single week.
This figure measures individuals’ card spending (mada and credit cards) specifically, and does not include cash, cheques or bank transfers; so it is an indicator of the direction of spending, not a complete picture of its actual size in the economy.
We follow this figure weekly in the spending index newsletter on DataPulse, with a breakdown for 60 cities and 31 commercial activities.
Source: Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), weekly card-spending data.
This is analytical content for understanding the general trend; it is not financial or investment advice, and it does not recommend any decision.
Weekly newsletter(Arabic) · The week in detail · 52 weeks
Translated from the Arabic reading; the Arabic text, cleared by our legal adviser, is the original. The original reading(Arabic)