In its Fixed Income Report, Markaz states that primary debt issuances of Bonds and Sukuk in the Gulf Cooperation Council (“GCC”) Countries amounted to USD 92.04 billion through 215 issuances during H1 2025, a 5.5% decrease from the same period last year, where issuances in H1 2024 amounted to USD 97.36 billion.
Issuances by Geography: Saudi-based issuances led the GCC during H1 2025, raising USD 47.93 billion through 71 issuances, down from USD 59.73 billion in H1 2024 a decrease of 19.8%, and representing 52.1% of issuances during the year. UAE- based issuances ranked second, with USD 24.03 billion through 69 issuances, representing 26.1% of the market, an increase of 22.2% from the same period last year. Qatari entities were the third largest issuers in terms of value, with USD 10.0 billion issued through 58 issuances, representing 10.9% of the issuances over the period. Bahraini issuers follow, with a total issuance size of USD 5.62 billion through 7 issuances, a 49.7% increase from the same period last year. Kuwaiti issuances recorded a 48.0% increase from the same period last year, recording a total value of USD 3.39 billion through 4 issuances. Omani entities recorded the lowest value of issuances during the year, with USD 1.08 billion raised through 6 issuances, representing 1.2% of the total value of issuances.
Sovereign vs. Corporate: Total GCC corporate primary issuances increased by 67.7% in H1 2025, amounting to USD 60.20 billion raised, compared to USD 35.91 billion raised in H1 2024 . Corporate issuances represented 65.4% of total issuances for the first half of 2025, contrasting with the preference of issuances in H1 2024 where more sovereign entities raised capital (Corporate issuances H1 2024: 36.9%). Government related corporate entities raised USD 11.2 billion through 11 issuances during the year, an increase of 1.8% from H1 2024 (USD 11.0 billion through 10 issuances). Total GCC sovereign primary issuances decreased by 48.2% in H1 2025, raising USD 31.85 billion throughout the year, representing 34.6% of total issuances.
Conventional vs. Sukuk: Conventional issuances increased by 7.8% in H1 2025 compared to H1 2024, raising a total of USD 51.61 billion for the year. Sukuk issuances, meanwhile, decreased by 18.2% in H1 2025, resulting in a total value of USD 40.43 billion for the year so far. As for issuance preferences, H1 2025 saw an increased appetite for conventional issuances in the GCC, representing 56.1% of total issuances for the year. This is a change in issuance preferences from H1 2024, where more Sukuk were issued than conventional bonds.
Sector Segmentation: The Financial sector led the bond and sukuk issuances in H1 2025, with total value of USD 40.1 billion through 167 issuances representing 43.6% of total issuances. Government issuances follow, with USD 31.9 billion through 25 issuances, representing 34.6% of total issuances. This represents an increase for the financial sector (31.1%) and a decrease for government issuances (-48.2%) when compared to the same period last year. The energy sector follows, with USD 8.6 billion through 9 issuances, representing 9.4% of total issuances, with the remaining sectors together representing a small portion of total issuance (12.5%).
Maturity Profile: In H1 2025, primary issuances with less than 5-year tenors represented 46.9% of GCC debt capital markets with a total value amounting to USD 43.2 billion through 154 issuances. Primary issuances with 5–10-year tenors followed, raising USD 31.1 billion through 43 issuances, representing 33.8% of total issuances. Primary issuances with 10–30-year tenors represented 9.6% of GCC debt capital markets with a total value of USD 8.8 billion through 5 issuances during the year. One issuance came in with a maturity greater than (“GT”) 30 years with a value of USD 1 billion, while perpetual issuances saw an increase in both the size and number of issuances when compared to H1 2024, with a total value of USD 8.0 billion through 12 issuances.
Issue Size Profile: During H1 2025, GCC primary issuances ranged in size from USD 2.0 million to USD 5.0 billion. Issuances with issue size of USD 1 billion or greater raised the largest amount, totaling USD 54.5 billion through 32 issuances and representing 59.2% of the total amount issued in the GCC. Issuances sized between USD 500 million and USD 1 billion followed, with a total issuance size of USD 27.0 billion through 44 issuances. The highest number of issuances was under USD 100 million issue size, where there were 105 issuances that raised a total amount of USD 3.2 billion during H1 2025.
Currency Profile: US Dollar-denominated issuances led the GCC Bonds and Sukuk primary market again in H1 2025, raising a total of USD 73.1 billion through 146 issuances, representing a substantial 79.4% of the total value raised in primary issuances during the year so far. The second largest issue currency was the Saudi Riyal (SAR), where SAR denominated issuances raised a total of USD 7.0 billion through 8 issuances. As for currencies bucketed under “Other” which totaled USD 2.0 billion, the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) represented 0.74% of total issuances with a total value of USD 682 million through 20 issuances.
Rating: In terms of value, a total of 74.0% of GCC Conventional and Sukuk bonds were rated in H1 2025 by at least one of the following rating agencies: Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, Fitch and Capital Intelligence, an increase from H1 2024 (57.2% of all issuances rated ). Issuances rated within the Investment Grade accounted for 67.7% of the total issuances during the year, while Sub-Investment Grade accounted for 6.3% of rated bonds.
*The statistical data herein have been obtained from Bloomberg, we believe to be reliable but in no way are warranted by us as to its accuracy or completeness. Markaz has no obligation to update, modify or amend its report.
GCC Bonds and Sukuk Market Report H1 2025
Markaz Report: GCC Fixed Income market sees USD 92.04 billion in primary issuances during H1 2025 representing a 5% decrease from last year
03/08/2025
