Weekly Market Brief – 12/16/2022

Saudi Arabia Macroeconomic Developments

• Saudi Arabia’s annual inflation rate rose 2.9 percent YoY in November, driven by a rise in housing, water, and food prices, according to the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). November’s inflation rate, however, has steadily declined from 3 percent in October and 3.1 percent in September.

• Spending by international tourists in Saudi Arabia jumped to SAR27 billion ($7.2 billion) in the first half of 2022, as the number of visitors surged to 46 million, according to the Ministry of Investment. Inbound tourist spending jumped 570 percent in Q2 2022 to SAR15.7 billion ($4.2 billion), while domestic tourist spending rose 31.5 percent to SAR22.7 billion ($6 billion).

• Saudi Arabia’s point-of-sale (POS) transactions fell to SAR11.1 billion ($2.9 billion) in the week ending December 10, compared to SAR13.7 billion ($3.6 billion) the week before, according to the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA).