The question
How much does a household in Saudi Arabia spend each month? What does it spend on? And how much of its income is left after spending?
The figure
According to GASTAT’s Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2024, households in Saudi Arabia spend SAR 10,884 a month on average, and their income available for spending is SAR 11,839. The gap is SAR 955, or 8.1% of income.
Riyadh has the highest income of the regions: SAR 14,990, with spending of SAR 13,000 and a gap of SAR 1,990, or 13.3% of income. The lowest income is in Najran: SAR 7,969.
In two regions average spending is higher than average income: Jazan (income SAR 10,763, spending SAR 13,353) and Najran (income SAR 7,969, spending SAR 8,159).
What do households spend on?
In the 2024 survey, household spending in Saudi Arabia is split into 4 items: non-food non-durable goods and services SAR 4,621 (42.5%), food SAR 3,025 (27.8%), housing SAR 1,832 (16.8%), and durable goods SAR 1,406 (12.9%).
A finer breakdown into 13 divisions comes from the 2023 survey, published on 27 February 2025 (28 Sha'ban 1446 AH). The 5 largest divisions in Saudi Arabia:
Together these five divisions are 73.7% of household spending. Food’s share varies widely between regions: 43.5% of household spending in Najran, and 23.3% in the Eastern Province.
- Food and beverages 27.9%.
- Housing, water, electricity and fuel 14.1%.
- Restaurants and hotels 11.7%.
- Transport 10.5%.
- Clothing and footwear 9.6%.
Income, spending and the gap between them in each region
SAR a month, average household in the 2024 survey. Highest income first.
| Region | Disposable income | Consumption spending | Gap (income − spending) | Food share of spending (2023 survey) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 11,839 | 10,884 | 955 | 27.9% |
| Riyadh | 14,990 | 13,000 | 1,990 | 23.5% |
| Northern Borders | 12,868 | 11,310 | 1,558 | 34.3% |
| Eastern Province | 11,775 | 11,509 | 266 | 23.3% |
| Al-Baha | 11,348 | 11,346 | 2 | 36.4% |
| Asir | 11,264 | 9,701 | 1,563 | 32.8% |
| Tabuk | 11,127 | 9,722 | 1,405 | 33.8% |
| Jazan | 10,763 | 13,353 | −2,590 | 30.7% |
| Al-Jouf | 10,686 | 9,872 | 814 | 34.2% |
| Makkah | 10,141 | 9,146 | 995 | 30.3% |
| Qassim | 10,081 | 9,983 | 98 | 32.5% |
| Madinah | 9,723 | 9,317 | 406 | 33.4% |
| Hail | 9,269 | 8,600 | 669 | 37.8% |
| Najran | 7,969 | 8,159 | −190 | 43.5% |
What this means for your decision
Anyone who compares their budget with the average for Saudi Arabia may be misled, because income, spending and how it is split differ widely between regions.
- For households: you can compare the share of each item in your budget with its share among households in your region; an item well above their share is the clearest place to look. This is an analytical reading, not financial advice.
- For business owners: the share of the division you sell in the spending of the region’s households, together with the number of households you reach, gives an approximate size of the market you compete for.
- For researchers: the gap between average income and average spending is a general indicator of households’ margin in the region, not of what a particular household saves.
An analytical reading, not financial advice; the decision and its responsibility are yours.
Limits of the figure
- A single-year survey (2024), not updated monthly, and prices have changed since. We added the survey data to the site on 28 September 2026 (17 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH).
- “How much is left” here is the difference between two averages, not what is left for a particular household. Consumption spending does not include buying a home or saving.
- Higher-income households pull the average up. The median is closer to the typical household: half of households in Saudi Arabia have disposable income below SAR 7,362, and half spend less than SAR 7,654.
- Spending above income in a region may reflect borrowing, transfers or the survey method; the data do not show the reason.
- The 13 divisions are from the 2023 survey and the 4 items from the 2024 survey, so their figures are not added together.
Source: General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), Saudi Arabia, the official source of the original data. DataPulse organised the data and made calculations on it (such as percentage changes and regrouping). This processing and its results are ours; they are not an official statistic issued by GASTAT and do not imply its endorsement. Reuse terms: GASTAT data use policy. We do not use GASTAT’s logo or marks.
The source statement in Arabic (the Arabic text governs; the English above is a summary)
المصدر: الهيئة العامة للإحصاء (المملكة العربية السعودية) — مسح دخل وإنفاق الأسرة 2024، ومسح دخل وإنفاق الأسرة 2023 (أوزان الإنفاق)، وهي المصدر الرسمي للبيانات الأصلية. أجرت «نبض البيانات» على البيانات تنظيمًا وحسابًا (مثل: حساب نسب التغيّر وإعادة التجميع). هذه المعالجة والنتائج من إعدادنا وليست إحصاءً رسميًا صادرًا عن الهيئة، ولا تعني تزكية منها.
شروط إعادة الاستخدام: سياسة استخدام بيانات الهيئة. لا نستخدم شعار الهيئة ولا علاماتها.
Full official figures: Household income and spending: the official figures · All insights(Arabic)
Translated from the Arabic reading; the Arabic text is the original. The original reading(Arabic)