RIYADH: According to official figures, a significant increase in spending in the education sector drove a 2.6 percent increase in point-of-sale transactions in Saudi Arabia to SR13.7 billion ($3.6 billion) in the week ending October 5. After weeks of reductions since the start of the academic year in August, the education sector led the growth, according to the most recent data from the Saudi Central Bank, better known as SAMA, with a 96.8% increase in transactions, totalling SR196.8 million.
Spending on telecommunications came next, increasing 17.4% to SR136.5 million. The third-largest rise, 13.9 percent, was reported by the public utilities sector, reaching SR61.5 million. The biggest decrease was in furniture spending, which fell 11.7 percent to SR349.3 million during this time. Electronics spending dropped 8.4% to SR238 million, while apparel and footwear spending dropped 7.4% to SR757.3 million. Additionally, spending on restaurants and recreation fell by 1.9 and 2.4 percent, respectively.
While other industries saw growth, these five were the only ones to show reductions. With SR2.22 billion in transaction value, the food and beverage industry kept the biggest portion of POS expenditure, followed by cafés and restaurants (SR1.95 billion) and other goods and services (SR1.77 billion). Approximately 43.3%, or SR5.9 billion, of the week’s total POS value was spent in these top three categories. Geographically, Riyadh accounted for 34.3 percent of all POS transactions, while capital expenditures reached SR4.71 billion, the second-highest rise at 4.7 percent.
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