Mubasher: Consumption in Saudi Arabia grew by 8.1% year-on-year (YoY) during January 2020, according to data by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA).

Consumers in Saudi Arabia spent SAR 84.59 billion last January, compared with SAR 84.59 billion in January 2019.

On a monthly basis, spending increased by 5.4%, compared to its level at SAR 86.8 billion in December 2019.

Last year, spending by consumers in the kingdom increased by 4.6% to SAR 1.03 trillion, compared with SAR 980.63 billion in 2018.

The rise in consumption came supported by an increase in monthly point of sale (PoS) transactions, which reached a new record high.

After hitting its highest ever level in December at SAR 27.93 billion, PoS sales reached SAR 28.53 billion by the end of January 2020, as the number of POS transactions soared by 75% year-on-year (YoY) to 186.14 million transactions from 106.36 million in January 2019.

In addition, the number of devices used hiked to 452,320 devices in January, compared to around 358,600 in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Meanwhile, cash withdrawals marginally decreased by 0.44% in January 2020 to SAR 62.94 billion, compared with SAR 63.22 billion for January 2019.

Withdrawals through mada cards rose in January to SAR 40.05 billion, compared with SAR 39.55 billion a year earlier, while withdrawals from banks increased by 3.3% to SAR 22.89 billion, compared with SAR 23.67 billion in January 2019.