Our latest survey of 1,000 respondents from Saudi Arabia found that 60% of Saudi Nationals save less than 10% of their monthly income. Out of those, two thirds claim they do not save anything at all and 20% claim they do not know how to save.
Among the best savers are expat Asians with 40% of them saving more than 30% of their income followed by the Western expats with 37% of them saving within the same range.
Expat Arabs seem to find it harder to save, with 42% not saving anything at all and 12% admitting they do not know how to save.
Saudi residents feel they are not saving enough
There seem to be a realization from Saudi residents that they are not saving enough with only15% claiming that they are saving enough and 55% admitting that unfortunately they save less than what they did 3 years ago.
The biggest issue we think is the education of how to save, tools to use to help budget and realization that we all need to be prepared for the future. Saudi Arabia has one of the youngest population in the world, and in the range of 25-30, saving is usually not at the top of mind
While enjoying a good quality of life now is important, saving adequate amounts for the future is even more so and that is not only for a rainy day or for our retirement but to be able to more easily invest in a house for the family
The good news is that 45% of the Saudi residents have the willingness to save more admitting that they are currently not saving enough and would like to understand and learn more about how to manage their finances in order to be prepared for the future.
Basic bank accounts still savings instrument of choice
Among those who save, almost 55% of people rely heavily on a simple bank account to keep their extra cash, which seems to indicate a lack of awareness of available investments options. The second favorite way to save was property investment at 10%, which however is still very low compared to 32% of UAE residents investing into property.
Investing in stocks was most appealing to Saudi Nationals but still takes a very low percentage of respondents with only 7% opting the exchange as an investment choice.
Due to the fact that Sharia products are a very important aspect of investing in Saudi Arabia, it is not surprising that Fixed deposits were the least favorable saving instrument with only 2% of the respondents taking it up as a saving instrument.
Putting money aside from our income is not the only way to save but re assessing your finances and looking at your expenses can help. Islamic products are an extremely important consideration for many in Saudi Arabia yet people are potentially not aware enough of their options. From our side, we allow our users to search products that are only Islamic and make a choice based on your beliefs
