Methodology · Sources · King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center
KAPSARC: the open-data mirror
The KAPSARC platform republishes data from official agencies (SAMA, GASTAT, municipalities, commerce) through an open API. We take from it the history no longer available from the original, and attribute every figure to its original agency.
What we take
| Dataset | Original agency | Period we hold | Last pull | At source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Point-of-sale totals, terminals and contactless payments | SAMA | 1 January 1993 (8 Rajab 1413 AH) – 1 July 2026 (16 Muharram 1448 AH) | 28 September 2026 (17 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH) | Updating |
| ATMs and cash withdrawals | SAMA | 1 January 1995 (30 Rajab 1415 AH) – 1 July 2026 (16 Muharram 1448 AH) | 28 September 2026 (17 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH) | Updating |
| Detailed weekly point of sale (60 cities and 30 activities) | SAMA | 29 June 2025 (4 Muharram 1447 AH) – 22 March 2026 (3 Shawwal 1447 AH) | 3 October 2026 (22 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH) | Stopped or late |
| Weekly point of sale by sector and city (old classification) | SAMA | 10 May 2020 (17 Ramadan 1441 AH) – 6 July 2025 (11 Muharram 1447 AH) | 28 September 2026 (17 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH) | Stopped or late |
| Consumer prices by city (16 cities) | GASTAT | January 2013 (Safar – Rabi' al-Awwal 1434 AH) – January 2025 (Rajab – Sha'ban 1446 AH) | 28 September 2026 (17 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH) | Stopped or late |
| Inflation rate in Saudi Arabia | SAMA | January 2018 (Rabi' al-Akhir – Jumada al-Ula 1439 AH) – January 2024 (Jumada al-Akhirah – Rajab 1445 AH) | 28 September 2026 (17 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH) | Stopped or late |
| Consumer prices for main divisions (annual) | GASTAT | 2013 – 2024 | 28 September 2026 (17 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH) | Stopped or late |
| Point of sale by sector (monthly and annual) | SAMA | 1 January 2016 (21 Rabi' al-Awwal 1437 AH) – 1 December 2023 (17 Jumada al-Ula 1445 AH) | 28 September 2026 (17 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH) | Stopped or late |
| New sole proprietorships by region | Ministry of Commerce | 2005 – 2023 | 28 September 2026 (17 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH) | Stopped or late |
| Commercial registrations and company capital by legal form | Ministry of Commerce | 2013 – 2023 | 28 September 2026 (17 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH) | Stopped or late |
| Building permits by region and building type | Ministry of Municipal Affairs | 1987 – 2019 | 29 September 2026 (18 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH) | Stopped or late |
Updates: at source and on our side
- Our collector pulls KAPSARC datasets daily and keeps every copy with its date and fingerprint.
- Updating at the source varies: some datasets are monthly, some stopped at a given year (marked in the table).
Limits
- What has stopped at the source is shown as history, labelled with its last year; we do not extend it with an estimate.
- Where it overlaps SAMA’s original we match the figures: in 36 overlapping weeks of point of sale we found no difference, except one error at the source (gas stations in the week of 1 February 2026 (13 Sha'ban 1447 AH)), where we take the SAMA bulletin figure.
- Consumer prices by city stop at January 2025 (Rajab – Sha'ban 1446 AH) because GASTAT now publishes by region.
Attribution
SAMA data, as republished by the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC). The same wording for each original agency: GASTAT, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs or the Ministry of Commerce data, as republished by KAPSARC.
The attribution wording in Arabic (the Arabic text governs; the English above is a summary)
بيانات ساما كما أعاد نشرها مركز الملك عبدالله للدراسات والبحوث البترولية (كابسارك).
وبالصيغة نفسها لكل جهة أصلية: بيانات الهيئة العامة للإحصاء، أو وزارة الشؤون البلدية، أو وزارة التجارة، كما أعاد نشرها مركز الملك عبدالله للدراسات والبحوث البترولية (كابسارك).