Saudi Arabia tops GCC debt market with $47.9bn in H1 issuances: Markaz

Arab News

8 hours ago

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia led the Gulf region's primary debt market in the first half of 2025, raising $47.93 billion through 71 bond and sukuk issuances, a new analysis showed.
According to a report from Kuwait Financial Center, also known as Markaz, the Kingdom accounted for 52.1 percent of the total Gulf Cooperation Council issuances during the period, cementing its position as the region's dominant fixed income market.
However, the volume marked a 19.8 percent year-on-year decline from $59.73 billion in the first half of 2024.
Overall, GCC primary debt issuances totaled $92.04 billion during the period, down 5.5 percent from a year earlier.
Affirming the expansion of the region's debt market, Fitch Ratings noted in December that total outstanding debt in the GCC surpassed the $1 trillion mark.
Commenting on the latest first half figures, Markaz stated: 'As for issuance preferences, the first half saw an increased appetite for conventional issuances in the GCC, representing 56.1 percent of total issuances for the year.'
It added: 'This is a change in issuance preferences from the first half of 2024, where more sukuk were issued than conventional bonds.'
Regional outlook
Saudi Arabia's debt market has expanded rapidly in recent years, as both domestic and international investors seek diversification and stable returns.
In July, the National Debt Management Center raised SR5.02 billion ($1.34 billion) through a riyal-denominated sukuk issuance, marking a 113.6 percent increase from the previous month.
Earlier in February, the Kingdom issued €2.25 billion ($2.36 billion) in euro-denominated bonds, including its inaugural green tranche, under its Global Medium-Term Note Issuance Program.
In December, Kamco Invest projected that Saudi Arabia would lead the region in bond maturities over the next five years, with about $168 billion in Saudi bonds expected to mature between 2025 and 2029 — a reflection of the Kingdom's growing prominence in regional debt markets.
Following Saudi Arabia, the UAE ranked second with $24.03 billion raised from 69 issuances, accounting for 26.1 percent of total market share. This also represented a 22.2 percent increase over the same period last year.
Qatar followed with $10 billion from 58 offerings, capturing 10.9 percent of total GCC issuance in the first half.
Bahrain saw $5.62 billion raised through seven issuances — an increase of 49.7 percent year on year. Kuwaiti issuances climbed 48 percent to $3.39 billion from four deals, while
Oman recorded the region's lowest total, with $1.08 billion from six issuances.
Maturity and issue size profile
According to Markaz, bonds and sukuk with tenors under five years accounted for 46.9 percent of total GCC issuances, amounting to $43.2 billion across 154 deals.
Issuances with tenors of five to ten years made up 33.8 percent of the market, totaling $31.1 billion from 43 deals. Bonds with maturities between 10 and 30 years comprised 9.6 percent, raising $8.8 billion from five transactions.
'One issuance came in with a maturity greater than 30 years with a value of $1 billion, while perpetual issuances saw an increase in both the size and number of issuances when compared to the first half of 2024, with a total value of $8 billion through 12 issuances,' added Markaz.
Issuance sizes ranged from $2 million to $5 billion. The largest share — $54.5 billion, or 59.2 percent of the total — came from 32 deals each valued at $1 billion or more.
Those between $500 million and $1 billion raised $27 billion across 44 offerings.
The highest number of deals fell in the sub-$100 million category, with 105 transactions collectively raising $3.2 billion.
Currency profile
US dollar-denominated instruments dominated the primary market, raising $73.1 billion through 146 issuances — representing 79.4 percent of the total value.
The Saudi riyal was the second most used currency, with $7 billion raised across eight deals.
'As for currencies bucketed under 'other' which totaled $2 billion, the Hong Kong Dollar represented 0.74 percent of total issuances with a total value of $682 million through 20 issuances,' added Markaz.
A separate report by Fitch in April said GCC countries accounted for over 35 percent of all emerging-market US dollar debt issued in the first quarter of 2025 — excluding China — up from about 25 percent in 2024.
Issuances by type
Corporate issuances in the GCC rose sharply by 67.7 percent year on year to reach $60.20 billion in the first half of 2025, accounting for 65.4 percent of total issuances.
Government-related entities contributed $11.2 billion across 11 issuances.
In its latest report, Markaz noted that conventional issuances rose 7.8 percent year on year to $51.61 billion in the first half.
In contrast, sukuk issuances declined 18.2 percent over the same period, totaling $40.43 billion.
The financial sector led issuance activity, raising $40.1 billion from 167 deals — 43.6 percent of the total. Government issuers came next, contributing $31.9 billion from 25 offerings.
'The energy sector follows, with $8.6 billion through 9 issuances, representing 9.4 percent of total issuances, with the remaining sectors together representing a small portion of total issuance at 12.5 percent,' added Markaz.