Consumer spending in Saudi Arabia rises 10% to SAR 134.1B in May

An ATM machine

Consumer spending in Saudi Arabia rose by 10% to SAR 134.1 billion in May 2025, from nearly SAR 122 billion in the same month a year earlier.

Consumer spending represents total cash withdrawals, point-of-sale (POS) transactions, and e-commerce via Mada cards.

POS transactions saw a 5% year-on-year (YoY) increase to around SAR 59.5 billion in May.

Data showed that 988.8 million transactions were processed through more than 2.1 million POS terminals during the same month.

POS transactions represent the expenditures made by consumers using their ATM cards and credit cards at shopping malls, retail stores, pharmacies, and other retail outlets.

Meanwhile, cash withdrawals from ATMs fell by nearly 4% YoY to about SAR 47.2 billion in May.

These withdrawals were processed through 15,000 ATMs in 121.7 million transactions, while the number of credit cards issued reached 56.2 million.

E-commerce sales through Mada cards jumped 69% YoY to SAR 27.4 billion in May.

According to monthly data issued by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), these sales were made through 147.1 million transactions.

Online sales include transactions processed through Mada cards for payments and purchases made via online shopping and applications. However, these do not include transactions conducted using Visa, Mastercard, or other credit cards.