Saudi Consumer Expenditure Remains Above $3bn, Jewellery Industry Sees Boost
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s consumer expenditure stayed above $3 billion in the week to Oct. 24, with spending on jewellery surging 19.6 percent, official data indicated.
According to the Saudi Central Bank, SAMA, point-of-sale transactions in the Kingdom hit SR11.78 billion ($3.14 billion) during the seven-day period, down 6.5 percent from last week, while the number of transactions dropped by 7 percent to 229.12 million.
Jewellery was the star segment, hitting SR427.61 million, even as the number of transactions dropped 0.9 percent.
Total weekly spending across all sectors has been dropping gradually over the previous month, down around 28.6 percent from SR16.51 billion in the week ending Oct. 3.
Economist Talat Hafiz said the decline “largely reflects the normal monthly salary cycle and the timing of household purchases.”
He told Arab News that consumers tend to spend more when they get their salaries and then decrease their spending as the month continues.
Some households may also have brought forward purchases of goods and services associated with seasonal spending, for example, the start of the school year.” Food and beverage spending declined 9.6 percent to SR2.01 billion while restaurant and cafe spending fell 4.6 percent to SR1.57 billion. Spending on garments, clothing and accessories fell 3.9 percent to SR875.30 million.
Petrol station spending was down 7.6 percent to SR922.51 million, and the value of transportation-related transactions was down 9.5 percent to SR834.49 million.
Expenditure on POS in the healthcare sector dipped 7 percent to SR765.89 million, while expenditure on professional and business services dropped 12.3 percent to SR642.83 million.
Education-related expenditure declined 18.5 percent to SR68.03 million, while expenditure on books and stationery fell 13.2 percent to SR88.78 million. The latter saw transactions drop 34.9 percent.
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