The primary debt issuances of bonds and sukuk in the GCC countries amounted to $51.51 billion through 125 issuances during the first quarter of 2025, down 7.1 per cent from the same quarter last year, where issuances in Q1 2024 stood at $55.5bn, according to Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz).
Saudi-based issuances led the GCC during Q1 2025, raising $31.01bn through 46 issuances, down from $38.55bn in Q1 2024 a decrease of 19.6pc, and representing 60.2pc of issuances during the year, stated Markaz in its Fixed Income Report.
UAE- based issuances ranked second, with $10.17bn through 29 issues, representing 19.7pc of the market, an increase of 61.6pc from the same quarter last year.
Qatari entities were the third largest issuers in terms of value, with $7.14bn issued through 38 issuances, representing 13.9pc of the issuances over the quarter.
Bahraini issuers follow, with a total issuance size of $1.53bn through two issuances, a 44.5pc decrease from the same quarter last year.
Kuwaiti issuances recorded a 40.7pc increase from the same quarter last year, recording a total value of $1.41bn through nine issuances.
Omani entities recorded the lowest value of issuances during the year, with $260 million raised through one issuance, representing 0.5pc of the total value of issuances.
According to Markaz, the total GCC corporate primary issuances increased by 45.3pc from Q1 2024, amounting to $32.12bn raised, compared to $22.11bn raised in Q1 2024.
Corporate issuances represented 62.4pc of total issuances for Q1, contrasting with the preference of issuances last year where more sovereign entities raised capital (Corporate issuances Q1 2024: 39.9pc).
Government-related corporate entities raised a total of $6.8bn in Q1 2025, representing 21.2pc of all corporate issuances. Total GCC sovereign primary issuances decreased by 41.8pc in Q1 2025, raising $19.39bn throughout the year, representing 37.6pc of total issuances.
On the conventional issuances, Markaz said it increased by 15.8pc in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024, raising a total of $33.76bn for the quarter.
Sukuk issuances decreased by 32.5pc in Q1 2025, resulting in a total value of $17.75bn for the quarter.
As for issuer preferences, Q1 2025 saw an increased appetite for conventional bond issuances in the GCC, representing 65.5pc of total issuances for the quarter. This follows the same trend as in Q1 2024, where conventional bonds also represented the bulk of issuances, with 52.6pc of all issuances in Q1 2024 being conventional bonds.
According to Markaz, the financial sector led the bond and sukuk issuances in Q1 2025, with total value of $22bn through 100 issuances representing 42.8pc of total issuances followed by government issuances with $19.4bn through 12 issuances, representing 37.6pc of total issuances.
This represents an increase for the financial sector (23.6pc) and a decrease for government issuances (-41.8pc) when compared to the same period last year, it stated.
The real estate sector was on the third spot with $4.3bn through five issuances representing 8.3pc of total issuances, with the remaining sectors together representing a small portion of total issuance (11.34pc).
Markaz pointed out that US dollar-denominated issuances led the GCC bonds and sukuk primary market in Q1 raising a total of $44.9bn through 92 issuances, representing a substantial 87.2pc of the total value raised in primary issuances during the year.
The second largest issue currency was the euro, where euro-denominated issuances raised a total of $3bn through four issuances.
As for currencies bucketed under ‘other’ which totalled $1bn, the Hong Kong dollar represented 0.83pc of total issuances with a total value of $428m through 12 issuances, it added.
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