Saudi Arabia will use all means to defend itself against Houthi attacks, Saudi FM says
Moscow: Saudi Arabia will use all available means to protect its interests and will not hesitate to defend itself against Houthi attacks, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Tuesday, while stressing that diplomacy remained an option. Speaking at a joint news conference in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Prince Faisal said the Houthis had “opened a Pandora’s box”,…
Saudi Arabia's e-commerce sales experienced a notable surge of 11.8% in July 2026, reaching SR37.6 billion, according to the Saudi Central Bank's monthly statistical bulletin. This marked an increase from SR33.6 billion in June, reflecting a growing online shopping trend in the country. The surge was even more pronounced when compared to the same period last year, with e-commerce sales via Mada cards jumping by 26% year-on-year, reaching SR37.6 billion in July 2026, up from SR29.8 billion in July 2025.
However, while the overall sales saw a 3.1% increase in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the first quarter, the second quarter of 2026 still saw a 32.3% rise in e-commerce sales compared to the same period in 2025, reaching SR101.4 billion. Simultaneously, point-of-sale (POS) sales also rose, increasing by 9.4% in July 2026 compared to June, reaching SR59.7 billion.
POS sales, which were divided into mobile phone and card sales, saw a 6.8% increase year-on-year, with mobile phone sales at SR95.9 billion and card sales at SR74.1 billion in the second quarter of 2026. Despite a 4.8% decrease in POS sales in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the first quarter of the same year, the overall trend indicated a significant upward trajectory in e-commerce activity in the country.
Written by urgent.news from Saudi Gazette's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- Saudi Arabia says it 'will not hesitate' to defend itself after Houthi attacks wound dozens thenationalnews.com
- E-commerce sales in Saudi Arabia surge 11.8% to SR37.6 billion in July saudigazette.com.sa
- Etihad launches flights to Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast gulfnews.com
- Shehbaz condemns Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia dailytimes.com.pk
- Iran-backed Houthis attack Saudi oil facilities, injuring dozens cbc.ca
- Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia ignite fires at oil facilities and wound 73 people npr.org
- Houthi attacks on southern Saudi Arabia reportedly injure dozens aljazeera.com
