Markaz Report: GCC Fixed Income market sees USD 102.69 billion in primary issuances during H1 2026, representing a 6.50% increase

In its Fixed Income Report, Kuwait Financial Centre “Markaz” states that primary Bonds and Sukuk issuances in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries reached USD 102.69 billion through 161 issuances during H1 2026, representing a 6.50% increase from the same period last year, when primary issuances in H1 2025 totaled USD 96.42 billion.

Issuances by Geography: Saudi-based issuances led the GCC during H1 2026, raising USD 49.34 billion through 58 issuances, up 1.6% from USD 48.58 billion in H1 2025 and accounting for 48% of total GCC issuance value. UAE-based issuances ranked second, raising USD 25.45 billion through 58 issuances, representing 24.8% of the market, despite a 6.8% decrease compared with the same period last year. Qatari entities were the third largest issuers by value, raising USD 12.4 billion  through 18 issuances, an increase of 32.3% from the same period last year and representing 12.1% of total issuance value in H1 2026. Kuwaiti issuers followed, with a total issuance value of USD 8.67 billion through 14 issuances, a 128.6% increase from H1 2025. Bahraini issuances recorded a 32.8% decrease from the same period last year, raisingUSD 4.03 billion through 5 issuances, while Omani entities issued a total of USD 1.82 billion through 6 issuances. Finally, the market saw two issuances from a Supranational (“SNAT”) entity, The Arab Energy Fund, with a value of USD 1.00 billion.

Sovereign vs. Corporate: Total GCC corporate primary issuance value increased by 8.4% in H1 2026, reaching USD 66.67 billion, compared with USD 61.50 billion in H1 2025. Corporate issuances represented 64.9% of total issuances in H1 2026, in line with their 63.8% share in H1 2025, and continued to account for a greater share of the market than sovereign issuances. Government-related corporate entities raised USD 20.37 billion through 15 issuances during the year, an increase of 81.4% from USD 11.22 billion through 11 issuances in H1 2025. Total GCC sovereign primary issuances increased by 3.1% in H1 2026, reaching USD 36.01 billion and representing 35.1% of total issuances.

Conventional vs. Sukuk: Conventional issuances increased by 33.3% in H1 2026 compared to H1 2025, reaching USD 73.63 billion. Sukuk issuances, meanwhile, decreased by 29.5% in H1 2026, to USD 29.06 billion. As for issuance preferences, H1 2026 saw an increased appetite for conventional issuances in the GCC, representing 71.7% of total issuances for the first half of the year. This is consistent with issuance trends observed in H1 2025, during which conventional bonds accounted for the majority of issuances.

Sector Segmentation: The financial sector led the bond and sukuk issuances in H1 2026, with a total value of USD 41.70 billion through 104 issuances, accounting for 40.6% of total issuance value. Government issuances followed, with USD 36.01 billion through 29 issuances, representing 35.1% of total issuances. This represents an increase for both financial sector issuance (2.4%) and government issuances (3.1%) when compared to the same period last year. The energy sector ranked third, with USD 13.72 billion through 11 issuances, representing 13.4% of total issuances, while the remaining sectors collectively accounted for a smaller portion of total issuance (11.0%).

Maturity Profile: In H1 2026, primary issuances with less than 5-year tenors represented 42.2% of GCC debt capital markets, with a total value of USD 43.36 billion through 97 issuances. Primary issuances with tenors of 5 to 10 years followed, raising USD 29.50 billion through 32 issuances and representing 28.7% of total issuances. Primary issuances with tenors of 10 to 30 years represented 19.0% of the GCC debt capital markets, with a total value of USD 19.47 billion through 11 issuances during the year so far. Notably, no issuance had maturities exceeding 30 years, while perpetual issuances increased in both value and number compared with H1 2025, reaching USD 10.36 billion through 21 issuances.

Issue Size Profile: During H1 2026, GCC primary issuances ranged in size from USD 4.1 million to USD 4.3 billion. Issuances of USD 1 billion or more accounted for the largest share of total value, amounting to USD 63.55 billion through 35 issuances and representing 61.9% of the total amount issued in the GCC. Issuances ranging from USD 500 million to USD 1 billion followed, with a total issuance size of USD 26.55 billion through 41 issuances. The highest number of issuances was under USD 100 million, with 43 issuances raising a combined USD 1.28 billion during H1 2026.

Currency Profile: US dollar-denominated issuances continued to lead the GCC Bonds and Sukuk primary market in H1 2026, raising USD 83.42 billion through 100 issuances, representing a substantial 81.2% of total primary issuance value. The Saudi Riyal (SAR) was the second largest issuance currency by value, with SAR-denominated issuances raising a total of USD 7.46 billion through 10 issuances. Kuwaiti dinar (KWD)-denominated issuances followed, raising USD 5.67 billion through 12 issuances. Among currencies grouped under “Other”, which totaled USD 3.7 billion, the British Pound (GBP) represented 0.8% of total issuances with a total value of USD 785 million through 4 issuances.

Rating: In terms of value, 75.1% of GCC conventional bond and sukuk issuances were rated in H1 2026 by at least one of the following rating agencies: Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, Fitch, and Capital Intelligence, an increase from H1 2025 (69.9% of all issuances rated). Investment-grade issuances accounted for 69.8% of the total issuance value, while Sub-investment grade issuances represented 5.3%.