Kuwaitis and residents spend 3.7 million dinars daily via foreign websites

Ibrahim Mohammed: Official data released by the Central Bank of Kuwait revealed that the spending of citizens and residents in Kuwait on purchases through foreign websites and online stores amounted to approximately 3.7 million dinars daily during the first seven months of the current year. The data showed that the value of electronic purchases directed abroad reached 786.4 million dinars during the period from January to the end of July 2026, representing about 46.4% of the total value of payment transactions executed outside Kuwait through various channels, which amounted to approximately 1.695 billion dinars during the same period. By calculating the average spending during the first seven months of the year, which totaled approximately 212 days, it is evident that consumers in Kuwait spent an average of about 3.7 million dinars daily through foreign websites and online stores. July recorded the highest value of foreign electronic purchases during the first seven months of 2026, with the value of transactions executed through electronic websites reaching approximately 134.6 million dinars during the month. The value of foreign electronic purchases was distributed according to the type of cards used, with credit cards accounting for approximately 512 million dinars of the total electronic purchases from abroad during the period from January to July, compared to approximately 274.4 million dinars executed using debit cards. Thus, credit cards accounted for approximately 65.1% of the total value of foreign electronic purchases, while debit cards represented approximately 34.9% of the total. In terms of the number of transactions, the data showed that approximately 33.85 million transactions were executed through foreign electronic websites during the first seven months of the year, meaning that an average of approximately 160,000 foreign electronic purchase transactions were executed daily. Based on the total value and number of transactions, the average value of a single transaction through foreign electronic websites was approximately 23.2 dinars during the period.