Card spending 5.2% higher than last year for the 11th week in a row
Value of point-of-sale payments in Saudi Arabia · week 6–12 September 2026 · 24 Rabi' al-Awwal – 1 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH
SAR 13,790.4 million
+5.2% against the same week last year (SAR 13,108.4 million).
| This week | Same week last year | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of transactions (million) | 254.9 | 231.1 | +10.3% |
| Average transaction value (SAR) = value ÷ number | 54.1 | 56.7 | −4.6% |
What this means for your decision: Spending across Saudi Arabia in the last 4 weeks was 4.1% higher than last year; sales growing more slowly than that most likely have a local cause, which a comparison with your city and activity shows.
The week and its counterpart last year have no Ramadan or Eid; the year-on-year comparison is not affected by the shift of Hijri seasons.
Three points
- Against the previous week −12.9%, and over the same two weeks last year −12.3%; the weekly movement resembles last year, so it is a usual seasonal pattern.
- 14 of 19 main activities are above last year; fastest growth Telecommunications +22.5%, weakest Professional services −10.3%.
- Among the 10 largest cities, 8 are above last year; fastest Buraidah +9.7%, slowest Khamis Mushait −3.1%.
Spending above the previous year in 44 of 52 weeks
Value of point-of-sale payments in Saudi Arabia, weekly, 14 September 2025 – 12 September 2026 · 22 Rabi' al-Awwal 1447 – 1 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH, against the same weeks 364 days earlier. Shaded: Ramadan and the two Eids this year; their Gregorian dates differ in the previous year, so this is not a season-to-season comparison.
Source: Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), weekly point-of-sale data; DataPulse calculations. Latest week: 6–12 September 2026 · 24 Rabi' al-Awwal – 1 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH
What this means for your decision: Last 4 weeks +4.1% against the same weeks last year; this trend says more than a single week.
Telecommunications fastest-growing, Professional services weakest this week
Change in the value of spending by main activity against the same week last year, %.
| Activity | SAR million | Million transactions | Average transaction (SAR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telecommunications | 183.7 +22.5% | 5.5 +40.0% | 33.5 −12.4% |
| Clothing and accessories | 1,098.3 +21.7% | 9.9 +20.0% | 111.0 +1.4% |
| Public utilities | 57.2 +18.6% | 0.9 +19.7% | 64.4 −0.9% |
| Groceries and food | 2,279.9 +16.0% | 59.8 +14.4% | 38.1 +1.3% |
| Education | 316.2 +10.9% | 0.3 −0.8% | 1,249.6 +11.8% |
| Laundry | 54.7 +10.6% | 3.1 +5.0% | 17.8 +5.3% |
| Restaurants and cafés | 1,690.8 +7.6% | 60.5 +7.3% | 27.9 +0.3% |
| Health | 918.3 +4.8% | 10.4 +7.0% | 88.7 −2.1% |
| Transport | 1,005.2 +4.0% | 7.1 +28.9% | 140.9 −19.3% |
| Fuel stations | 1,054.5 +3.1% | 18.8 +3.0% | 55.9 +0.1% |
| Electronics | 193.7 +2.8% | 2.1 +21.0% | 92.1 −15.1% |
| Building materials | 402.1 +2.2% | 3.1 +38.5% | 127.6 −26.2% |
| Hotels | 255.0 +0.4% | 0.8 +14.6% | 322.0 −12.4% |
| Other activities | 2,085.4 +0.2% | 42.4 +7.9% | 49.2 −7.1% |
| Jewellery | 317.7 less than 0.1% | 0.3 +8.2% | 1,045.0 −7.6% |
| Culture and recreation | 368.0 −1.0% | 4.6 +0.6% | 79.7 −1.6% |
| Bakeries and sweets | 238.3 −6.1% | 6.4 −20.0% | 37.5 +17.3% |
| Furniture and home | 452.4 −9.1% | 2.7 +11.4% | 170.2 −18.4% |
| Professional services | 819.0 −10.3% | 16.2 +19.7% | 50.4 −25.0% |
Source: Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), weekly point-of-sale data; DataPulse calculations. Latest week: 6–12 September 2026 · 24 Rabi' al-Awwal – 1 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH
What this means for your decision: In the weakest activities demand is falling across the market; in the fastest, a shop growing more slowly than its activity is losing part of its share.
Buraidah fastest-growing of the 10 largest cities
Weekly spending of the 10 largest cities, SAR million.
| City | SAR million | vs previous week | vs same week last year | Million transactions | Average transaction (SAR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Riyadh | 4,869.7 | −12.0% | +4.7% | 84.8 +11.7% | 57.4 −6.3% |
| 2. Jeddah | 1,887.7 | −11.9% | +2.1% | 28.5 +5.3% | 66.2 −3.1% |
| 3. Dammam | 690.0 | −9.5% | +3.9% | 10.2 +6.0% | 67.9 −2.0% |
| 4. Makkah | 535.6 | −12.8% | +5.8% | 9.7 +7.5% | 55.1 −1.5% |
| 5. Madinah | 519.3 | −12.3% | +4.7% | 9.5 +4.1% | 54.9 +0.6% |
| 6. Al Khobar | 384.7 | −9.9% | +2.1% | 5.2 +7.2% | 74.7 −4.8% |
| 7. Buraidah | 349.4 | −13.4% | +9.7% | 5.7 +7.4% | 61.6 +2.2% |
| 8. Taif | 300.8 | −16.7% | +5.1% | 6.4 +4.3% | 46.8 +0.8% |
| 9. Khamis Mushait | 265.3 | −16.7% | −3.1% | 4.4 +0.9% | 60.5 −4.0% |
| 10. Tabuk | 233.6 | −17.8% | −2.7% | 4.9 +0.8% | 47.6 −3.5% |
Source: Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), weekly point-of-sale data; DataPulse calculations. Latest week: 6–12 September 2026 · 24 Rabi' al-Awwal – 1 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH
What this means for your decision: Saudi Arabia (+5.2%) is the reference for cities: those below it had a weaker local market this week, which does not mean your shop is weaker.
Calendar of the coming weeks
Announced calendar facts only, no forecasts; salaries from the Ministry of Finance schedule.
Also present last year, so the comparison is balanced:
- 20–26 September 2026 · 9–15 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH: National Day (Wednesday 23 September · 12 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH).
- 27 September – 3 October 2026 · 16–22 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH: Government salaries on Sunday 27 September (16 Rabi' al-Akhir 1448 AH).
- 25–31 October 2026 · 14–20 Jumada al-Ula 1448 AH: Government salaries on Tuesday 27 October (16 Jumada al-Ula 1448 AH).
Ramadan 1448 AH starts around Monday 8 February 2027 (1 Ramadan 1448 AH) by the Umm al-Qura calendar (the official start is by moon sighting), in 20 weeks.
What this means for your decision: The salary week was 20.2% higher than the average ordinary week over the last 52 weeks.
Methodology
- Point-of-sale payments by card and mobile, from SAMA: 60 cities weekly, 30 activities for Saudi Arabia weekly (19 main and 11 sub-activities), and 60×30 monthly.
- Cash payments and online purchases are not included.
- City = location of the payment terminal, not where the buyer lives. Activity = the merchant’s classification at the bank.
- Figures are before removing price rises, so part of the growth is higher prices, not larger quantities.
- Year-on-year comparison: the same week 364 days earlier.
- SAMA may revise its figures; we update earlier issues and say so here.
- No estimated figures in this issue; every figure is published by SAMA or calculated directly from it.
What changed: Newsletter methodology version 1.0. This is the first issue of the newsletter.