Central Bank of Bahrain data on annual point-of-sale and e-commerce operations showed growth in spending on a number of commercial sectors, including restaurants, supermarkets, hotels and resorts, in addition to cars. In details, the volume of spending on restaurants through point-of-sale payments, including bank cards, electronic applications, and others, increased by about 65% in 2022, to reach 429.3 million dinars. While the volume of spending on the supermarket sector increased by 21.8% to reach 191.4 million dinars.
As for the hotels and resorts sector, the volume of spending increased to about 191.4 million dinars, with a growth of 62.4%, while spending in shops selling cars and trucks amounted to about 182.7 million dinars, with a growth of 26.4%.
This growth in spending comes at a time when the country is witnessing rates of price inflation similar to what is happening in other countries of the world. Spending through points of sale and e-commerce increased during 2022 by 22% to reach 3.84 billion dinars, as the figures include spending by tourists and visitors to the Kingdom through bank cards and applications linked to bank accounts in their countries.
The number of payment transactions increased by 29.7% in 2022, bringing the total number of payment transactions to about 162.7 million, of which 74% were withdrawals via contactless technology.
