RIYADH: Saudi Arabia raised $49.34 billion through 58 bond and sukuk issuances in the first half of 2026, up 1.6 percent from a year earlier, accounting for nearly half of Gulf debt issuance, a new analysis showed.
The Kingdom represented 48 percent of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s primary debt market during the six-month period, as total regional issuance reached $102.69 billion across 161 deals, up 6.5 percent from a year earlier, according to a report by Kuwait Financial Center, also known as Markaz.
The findings underscore Saudi Arabia’s continued dominance of the region’s debt capital markets, which have expanded in recent years as governments and companies increasingly tap bond and sukuk markets to finance economic diversification projects and infrastructure investments.
“As for issuance preferences, the first half saw an increased appetite for conventional issuances in the GCC, representing 71.7 percent of total issuances for the first half of the year. This is consistent with issuance trends observed in the first half of 2025, during which conventional bonds accounted for the majority of issuances,” said Markaz.
It added: “Conventional issuances increased by 33.3 percent in the first half of 2026 compared to the first half of 2025, reaching $73.63 billion. Sukuk issuances, meanwhile, decreased by 29.5 percent in the first half to $29.06 billion.”
