According to the latest weekly report by Al-Shall Economic Center, the Kuwaiti banking sector remains the most dominant force on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE), accounting for 63.8% of the total market capitalization as of June 30, 2025.
The sector also leads in liquidity and foreign investor interest, capturing 30.0% of total market liquidity since the beginning of the year.
From the end of 2024 to June 2025, the banking index rose by 19.5%, accompanied by a notable increase in foreign ownership, reports Al-Jarida daily.
By the end of June 2025, foreign investment in the banking sector had grown to KD 5.078 billion, up from KD 3.997 billion at the end of 2024.
This marks an increase in foreign ownership from 15.09% to 15.84% of the sector’s total market value.
Foreign investment remains highly concentrated in four banks — National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), KD 2.357 billion; the Kuwait Finance House (KFH), KD 2.051 billion; Boubyan Bank, KD 222.6 million and the Gulf Bank: KD 201 million.
Together, these four banks account for 95.1% of all foreign holdings in the sector.
The NBK holds the highest share of foreign ownership in both absolute and relative terms, with foreigners holding 26.99% of its capital; the KFH follows with 14.25%, ranking second in both value and percentage; the Gulf Bank ranks third in relative ownership at 14.06%, while Kuwait International Bank ranks fourth at 12.52% and the NBK also recorded the highest growth in foreign ownership, jumping by 100.27%, from 3.74% to 7.49%.
In contrast, the Burgan Bank witnessed the largest decline, with foreign ownership dropping by 71.57%, from 17.80% to 5.06%.
The Al-Shall concluded that foreign ownership in Kuwaiti banks remains relatively stable, fluctuating slightly based on market performance and internal share shifts between banks.
Significantly, foreign investors are the only group with net positive purchases during the review period—unlike local and Gulf-based investors, who sold more than they bought.
Despite this trend, the report cautions that continued foreign interest is not guaranteed, underscoring the need for vigilance and performance consistency in the banking sector.
