Primary bond and sukuk issuances in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region reached $102.69 billion across 161 transactions during the first half of 2026, marking a 6.5% increase from $96.42 billion in the same period last year, according to a recent fixed income report by Kuwait Financial Centre “Markaz.”

Saudi Arabia led the market, issuing $49.34 billion through 58 deals, a 1.6% rise compared to the first half of 2025, and accounting for 48% of the total GCC issuance value. The United Arab Emirates followed with $25.45 billion in 58 issuances, representing 24.8% of the market, although this marked a decline of 6.8% year-on-year. Qatar ranked third, posting a 32.3% surge to $12.4 billion from 18 issuances, representing 12.1% of the total. Kuwait experienced a significant jump of 128.6%, issuing $8.67 billion in 14 deals. Bahrain saw a 32.8% decrease with $4.03 billion from five issuances, while Oman’s activity totaled $1.82 billion through six issuances. Additionally, two issuances were recorded from a supranational entity, The Arab Energy Fund, with a combined value of $1 billion.

Corporate issuances dominated primary market activity, increasing 8.4% to $66.67 billion and representing 64.9% of total issuance value, consistent with the prior year's share. Government-related corporate entities contributed $20.37 billion through 15 issuances, an 81.4% increase compared to $11.22 billion in H1 2025. Sovereign issuances also grew modestly by 3.1%, reaching $36.01 billion and constituting 35.1% of the total.

Conventional bond issuance experienced a notable rise of 33.3%, reaching $73.63 billion, while sukuk volumes declined by 29.5% to $29.06 billion. Conventional instruments accounted for 71.7% of all issuances in the first half of 2026, reflecting a continued preference evident since H1 2025.

By sector, the financial industry led issuance volume with $41.7 billion across 104 transactions, comprising 40.6% of the market, an increase of 2.4% over the previous year. Government issuances followed with $36.01 billion through 29 issuances, up 3.1%. The energy sector ranked third with $13.72 billion from 11 issuances, representing 13.4% of the total, while other sectors combined accounted for the remaining 11%.

Regarding debt maturity, primary issuances with tenors below five years made up 42.2% of the market with $43.36 billion over 97 issuances. Instruments with maturities between five and ten years totaled $29.5 billion, while those with 10 to 30-year tenors accounted for $19.47 billion. No issues exceeded 30 years, although perpetual issuances increased in both value and number, reaching $10.36 billion from 21 issuances.

Issuance sizes varied widely, ranging from $4.1 million to $4.3 billion. Deals exceeding $1 billion made up the largest portion by value, $63.55 billion across 35 issuances, representing 61.9% of the total. Issuances between $500 million and $1 billion followed with $26.55 billion, while the highest number of deals, 43, were under $100 million, totaling $1.28 billion.

US dollar-denominated issuances prevailed, accounting for $83.42 billion or 81.2% of total issuance value, spread over 100 transactions. Saudi Riyal-denominated deals raised $7.46 billion through 10 issuances, and Kuwaiti dinar transactions totaled $5.67 billion via 12 issuances. Other currencies, including the British pound, contributed $3.7 billion, with the GBP responsible for $785 million from four issuances.

In terms of credit ratings, 75.1% of conventional bond and sukuk issuances were rated by at least one major rating agency—Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, Fitch, or Capital Intelligence—up from 69.9% in H1 2025. Investment-grade issuances accounted for 69.8% of the total value, while sub-investment-grade paper represented 5.3%.