Alhamdulillah - Saudi Arabia Leads GCC Fixed‑Income Issuances in Q3
As-salāmu ʿalaykum - Just read a summary of the latest market update and wanted to share the main points in a simple way.
Alhamdulillah, Saudi Arabia topped the Gulf Cooperation Council’s primary debt market in the third quarter of 2025, raising $20.32 billion from 36 issuances - about a 62.7% increase compared with the same quarter last year. Across the GCC, issuances of bonds and sukuk reached $38.74 billion from 137 offerings in Q3, up 32.4% from $29.29 billion a year earlier.
The region’s debt market, especially in Saudi Arabia, has been growing as countries push economic diversification, which has boosted demand for fixed‑income instruments. Notably, there was a stronger appetite for sukuk in Q3 2025 - sukuk made up 52.6% of total issuances for the year, a shift from Q3 2024 when conventional bonds were more common.
Other country highlights:
- UAE issuers raised $5.82 billion from 57 offerings in Q3, a 47.3% decline versus the same period in 2024.
- Qatar raised $5.69 billion across 29 issuances, ranking third.
- Kuwait saw $3.42 billion from eight issuances, a big jump of 118.4% year on year.
- Bahrain’s issuances surged to $2.55 billion (four issuances), up 539% from a year earlier.
- Oman recorded the lowest total with $0.94 billion from three issuances.
On the corporate side, primary corporate issuances in the GCC grew 4% in Q3 to $26.59 billion. Conventional corporate issuances fell 18.6% to $18.37 billion, while sukuk issuance rose sharply - up 202.7% during the quarter - bringing sukuk to $20.37 billion year‑to‑date.
By sector, the financial sector led issuance activity in Q3 with $21.53 billion, followed by government issuances at $11.1 billion.
May Allah grant success and stability to the region’s economies. If anyone wants, I can share a brief explainer on what sukuk are and how they differ from conventional bonds - jazāk Allāhu khayran.
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