Saudi Arabia's essential payment methods

Saudi Arabia

General Information

Population 35.3 m
Population 15 + 26.7 m
Online population 34.6 m
Area 2,149,690 km²
Currency SAR
GDP 842.6 bn $US
GDP per capita 23,842 $US

Card-based payments
Cash-based payments
Bank transfer
Wallets
Other

[{"label":"Card-based payments","value":"45"},{"label":"Cash-based payments","value":"13"},{"label":"Bank transfer","value":"13"},{"label":"Wallets","value":"18"},{"label":"Other","value":"11"}]

Banked population

Saudi Arabia 74%
Middle East & Africa 46%
World 67%

Credit card penetration

Saudi Arabia 17%
Middle East & Africa 8%
World 19%

Internet penetration

Saudi Arabia 98%
Middle East & Africa 47%
World 62%

Smartphone penetration

Saudi Arabia 82%
Middle East & Africa 43%
World 70%

40% of respondents to a survey by Checkout.com cited the opportunity to shop cross border as the reason why they shop online.

Cash is no longer the payment method of choice in the kingdom. E-payments have increased from 44% in 2019 to 62% in 2021 and are make up 94% of the value of all the payments.

The Minister of Commerce announced in May that the Saudi e-commerce market had grown by 32%, making it one of the top ten countries in the sector.

The most popular e-commerce site in Saudi Arabia in July 2022 was amazon.sa with 14.26 m visits.

Future e-commerce trends (2021-2026)

B2C e-commerce ($US billion)

2022 15.6

2023 17.9

2024 20.2

2025 22.5

2026 24.7

E-commerce spending per capita ($US)

2022 435

2023 493

2024 550

2025 604

2026 654

E-commerce spending as % of GDP

2022 1.8%

2023 2.0%

2024 2.2%

2025 2.4%

2026 2.5%

Saudi Arabia

The E-Commerce Market

Top e-commerce segments

Fashion: 32%
Electronics & Media: 32%
Food & Personal Care: 21%
Toys, Hobby % DIY: 10%
Furniture & Appliances: 5%

Cross-border e-commerce

Cross-border proportion of total e-commerce – 41%
Value of cross-border e-commerce ($US billion) – 5.4 bn $US

Top 3 cross-border shopping origin markets

China
US
UAE

B2C e-commerce growth 20->21

Saudi Arabia 15.1%

E-commerce % of total retail

Saudi Arabia 7%
Middle East & Africa 9%
World 20%

E-commerce completed on a mobile device

Saudi Arabia 42%
Middle East & Africa 47%
World 53%

The Credit Card Split

Visa
Mastercard
Local Schemes

[{"label":"Visa","value":"5"},{"label":"Mastercard","value":"3"},{"label":"Local Schemes","value":"92"}]

E-commerce market size 13.2 bn $US
E-commerce spending per capita 375 $US
E-commerce spending as % of GDP 1.6%

_{The information on our Insights pages has been compiled by us in cooperation with Datamatics and Wright & Brown. The data shown is partially owned by us and partially owned by GlobalData. © 2021 by PPRO Financial Ltd. No data and information can be used for any further publication without the explicit approval of PPRO.}

Saudi Arabia

Local Payment Methods

BitPay

Type Cryptocurrency Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Hyperwallet

Type Bank transfer, Gift card, Prepaid voucher Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High PayPal

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Paysafecard

Type Prepaid voucher Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Paysera

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Skrill

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Allied Wallet

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High UnionPay SecurePay

Type Local payment card Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Apple Pay

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High DaoPay