The Kuwait Financial Centre “Markaz” reported that the total value of primary bond and sukuk issuances in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) reached $92.04 billion in the first half of 2025, down 5.5% compared to $97.36 billion during the same period last year. The total number of issuances stood at 215.
Saudi Arabia topped the GCC bond and sukuk market with $47.93 billion from 71 issuances, representing 52.1% of the region’s total. However, this marked a 19.8% drop from the previous year. The UAE came in second with $24.03 billion (69 issuances), up 22.2%, while Qatar followed with $10 billion (58 issuances). Kuwait saw a sharp 48% increase, reaching $3.39 billion from four issuances.
Corporate issuances dominated the market, totaling $60.2 billion and accounting for 65.4% of all GCC issuances — a sharp rise from 36.9% last year. Sovereign issuances, by contrast, dropped 48.2% to $31.85 billion, making up just 34.6% of the total. Semi-governmental entities raised $11 billion, slightly up from the previous year.
The financial sector led all categories with $40.1 billion through 167 issuances (43.6% of total value), followed by government issuances at $31.9 billion (25 issuances). Energy sector issuances amounted to $8.6 billion. As for maturity profiles, 46.9% of issuances were under five years in term, while only $1 billion was issued with a maturity exceeding 30 years. Perpetual bonds reached $8 billion across 12 deals.
