RIYADH — Saudi shoppers spent considerably more last week, and the reason is as familiar as a school timetable. Consumer spending rose 23.4 percent from the previous week to SR16.51 billion ($4.4 billion) in the week ending Oct. 3, official data show, with education-related costs doing most of the heavy lifting.

The figures come from point-of-sale data compiled by the Saudi Central Bank. Transaction volumes rose 12.5 percent over the same period to 273.92 million, which means the increase came from both more purchases and bigger ones.

Education leads the surge

Education was the standout category by a wide margin. Spending in the sector jumped 142.8 percent to SR212.57 million, while the number of education transactions climbed 69.1 percent.

Economist Talat Hafiz told Arab News the rise was largely seasonal, reflecting the start of the new academic year. He added that some institutions, particularly international and foreign schools, start later than the general school calendar in the Kingdom, which pushed some outlays into this week. The spending covered school and university fees as well as educational supplies. He noted that spending normalised in September, which supports the view that the spike is temporary.

Books and stationery transactions grew 13.1 percent to SR135.3 million, a smaller but related gain.

Food, transport and telecoms also climb

The increase was not confined to education. Food and beverage spending rose 41 percent from the previous week to SR2.98 billion, while restaurants and cafes recorded a 7.7 percent rise to SR1.89 billion.

Transportation spending climbed 27.8 percent to SR1.21 billion, and gas stations took in 16.1 percent more at SR1.15 billion. Healthcare rose 25.4 percent to SR1.09 billion, and professional and business services increased 26.3 percent to SR905.64 million.

Apparel and accessories grew 10.6 percent to SR1.31 billion. Jewellery spending was up 43.5 percent at SR489.79 million, and telecommunications jumped 53.3 percent to SR278.69 million.

Hotels the lone decliner

Hotels were the only major sector to move in the other direction. Spending fell 9.8 percent to SR280.55 million, a reminder that the week's gains were tied to household and school routines rather than tourism or leisure travel.

Riyadh dominates the map

The capital again accounted for the largest share of transactions. Spending in Riyadh reached SR5.62 billion, up 20 percent, with transaction numbers rising 11.3 percent to 90.01 million.

Jeddah followed with SR2.13 billion, up 15.2 percent, from 30.17 million transactions. Dammam recorded SR795.34 million, up 17.4 percent. Makkah and Madinah posted SR634.7 million and SR630.67 million, respectively, while Alkhobar reached SR448.77 million, up 12.8 percent.

Smaller cities also showed movement. Buraidah recorded SR413.92 million, and Abha, at SR198.57 million, posted a 31.2 percent increase, the strongest of the cities listed.

Putting the surge in proportion

The headline growth rate for education looks dramatic, but the category remains a small slice of overall spending. At SR212.57 million, education accounted for roughly 1.3 percent of the week's total, by our calculation from the published figures. Food and beverage, at SR2.98 billion, made up around 18 percent. Dividing total spending by transaction volume gives an average of roughly SR60 per transaction.

Earlier readings point the same way. Arab News reported in recent weeks that spending held above $3.5 billion a week as the back-to-school boost faded, and that another weekly reading rose 3.5 percent as hotels and recreation gained. Taken together, the series shows how closely weekly spending follows the calendar.

How to read the numbers

Weekly point-of-sale data is a useful pulse check, but it can swing sharply when seasonal factors line up. A rise of this size does not by itself signal a lasting change in household behaviour. The more telling indicator will be whether spending holds above its recent range once the back-to-school effect fades, as it did in September.

Even so, the breakdown offers useful signals for retailers and policymakers. The broad-based gains across food, transport, healthcare and business services suggest steady day-to-day demand, while the decline in hotels shows how unevenly spending can move across the economy in any given week.

The central bank publishes the figures weekly, and the next release, covering the week after this one, will show whether the surge continues or settles back toward its recent level. Retailers, school suppliers and payment providers will be watching closely.