RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Signs are emerging that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia will soon increase the number of alcohol stores as it angles to attract tourists and offer expatriates a better lifestyle in the conservative country with a strict interpretation of Islam. State oil giant Saudi Aramco’s Dhahran compound and the Red Sea port city of Jeddah would host these two new outlets for non-Muslim foreigners, people briefed on the move told Reuters. The move expands a tightly regulated experiment with legal alcohol sales in a country that officially outlawed drinking in 1952. One new store will be located in Dhahran, inside an Aramco compound where non-Muslim staff work, and another liquor shop will cater to diplomats in Jeddah – both are planned for 2026 if approvals continue as expected, the people said.he people said. If built, the new Saudi liquor stores would be part of a tiny network of three shops in a kingdom where alcohol was long limited to diplomatic bags, smugglers, and home breweries.
Saudi Arabia paved the way in January 2024, when an initial Reuters exclusive revealed plans for a maiden alcohol store in the capital, limited to non-Muslim diplomats who must register on an app and adhere to monthly purchase limits in Riyadh’s fortified Diplomatic Quarter.
The outlet opened in early 2024 and, per the Economist Intelligence Unit, became the first commercial off-licence since the 1952 ban—an incremental move aimed at curbing illegal ‘diplobooze’ trade rather than signaling wider liberalization.
In November 2025, non-Muslim holders of Saudi Arabia’s Premium Residency were also reported by Semafor and associated regional outlets to be able to shop at the Riyadh store, extending access beyond diplomats as part of efforts to attract foreign professionals and investors to the kingdom. The decision was a step towards formalising the experiment in alcohol stores and was also part of an effort to open the austere kingdom to tourists and diversify its economy.
Cinemas, music festivals, and mixed-gender parties have also found their place in a country that was for so long defined by the strictures of its social codes, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 plan eases open Saudi society more broadly — even while alcohol remains tightly controlled and officially off limits for Muslims.
Any change around drinking hits deep sensitivities in the birthplace of Islam, where a formal ban was put in place in 1952 after a royal scandal and where violators have long faced beatings, jail, or deportation, according to historical reporting compiled by The New Arab and others.
Rather than adopting a policy of general legalisation, Saudi alcohol outlets have remained to date the preserve of just a few enclaves. Earlier this year, a senior Saudi official publicly dismissed reports that the kingdom would abandon its 73-year-old ban on alcohol and permit alcohol in tourist zones, while another Reuters report quoted Riyadh’s ambassador vowing that the 2034 World Cup will be dry.
In that context, alcohol stores in Saudi Arabia continue to be hidden behind walled compounds and open for non-Muslims, subject to layers of bureaucracy, while projects such as the Red Sea resorts and NEOM are officially dry in a bid not to whip up religioThe planned outlets are expected to soothe the concerns of some foreign executives and diplomats, who will feel they can more easily entertain guests within secure compounds, even as Riyadh secures another talking point to proclaim its transformation into a global hub for tourism, finance, and technology under Vision 2030.der Vision 2030
Until broader rules are clarified, these carefully controlled alcohol stores illustrate Saudi Arabia’s balancing act: presenting an open image to attract select foreigners while maintaining deep-rooted religious boundaries that have defined domestic life for decades.
