Saudi Weekly Spending Near $3.8bn as School Fees Surge

Consumer spending in Saudi Arabia held near SAR 14.17 billion — close to USD 3.8 billion — for the week of August 16 to 22, 2026, as families rushed to pay school tuition ahead of the new academic year. Payments made through point-of-sale terminals across the Kingdom covered roughly 237.3 million transactions during the week.

The standout mover was the education sector, where card and digital wallet spending totaled about SAR 1.04 billion from around 250,000 transactions. That more than doubled from the previous week, when education spending reached roughly SAR 446 million. Spending on books and stationery also climbed, rising to about SAR 119 million in the week of August 9 to 15 before further increases.

The size of individual education payments explains much of the shift. The average education-sector transaction was about SAR 4,174 for the week, compared with a national average of roughly SAR 60 across all categories — a reflection of tuition and related fees being paid in single, larger amounts.

Why it matters

The surge lines up with the school calendar. For most regions, the new academic year begins on Sunday, August 23, 2026, while Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah, and Taif start on Sunday, August 30, 2026. For many households in Riyadh, Jeddah, and beyond, late August marks one of the heaviest spending periods of the year.

These figures reflect card and digital wallet payments at merchants — not cash — settled through the national Mada network and other card schemes. They are drawn from weekly point-of-sale data based on transactions processed through payment terminals, offering a timely snapshot of where household money is going.

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