Riyadh - Saudi Arabia dominated the Gulf Cooperation Council’s fixed-income market in the first quarter of 2026, raising $32.54 billion through 42 issuances, marking a year-on-year rise of 3.1 percent, according to an analysis by Kuwait Financial Center, also known as Markaz.The Kingdom accounted for 59.1 percent of the total GCC issuance volume, underscoring growing investor appetite for its debt market.

The GCC region witnessed $55.04 billion in primary issuances through 95 deals during the first quarter, representing a 5.64 percent rise compared to the same period a year earlier.The debt market in the region – particularly in Saudi Arabia – has grown substantially in recent years, fueled by economic diversification initiatives that have boosted investor appetite for fixed-income instruments.Markaz's analysis also noted an increased appetite for conventional issuances in the GCC during the first quarter of 2026.

Conventional bonds represented 65.2 percent of total issuances, in line with issuance preferences from the first quarter of 2025.Saudi Arabia was followed by the UAE as second-place issuer, with $13.57 billion raised across 36 offerings.

Qatar ranked third with issuances totaling $4.2 billion, followed by Bahrain at $2.1 billion, Kuwait at $1.98 billion, and Oman at $650 million.According to a report from Kamco Invest in December, GCC debt maturities are set to remain elevated over the next five years, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The former’s maturities are projected between 2026 and 2030 at $174.5 billion compared with $171.8 billion for the latter.Corporate issuers led issuance activity, raising $34.58 billion or 62.8 percent of total issuance, representing a 5.7 percent year-on-year increase.

Sovereign issuance reached $20.46 billion and accounted for 37.2 percent of total issuance, rising 5.5 percent compared to the same period in 2025.Government-related corporate entities saw a sharp decline, issuing only $2.65 billion in the first three months of 2026, representing a 60.9 percent decrease from the year-ago period.

The government sector led bond and sukuk activity with issuances amounting to $20.46 billion through 12 deals – or 37.2 percent of total issuances.The financial sector followed with issuances totaling $19.45 billion across 64 offerings, representing 35.3 percent of the market.

The energy industry raised $5.52 billion through six issuances in the first quarter of 2026.Primary issuances with tenors of less than five years accounted for 41.8 percent of the GCC debt capital markets in the first quarter, raising a total value of $23.01 billion across 58 deals.

Offerings with maturities between five and 10 years followed, reaching $17.24 billion through 21 issuances – or 31.3 percent of total issuances.Debt offerings with 10 to 30-year maturities accounted for 16.4 percent of the market during the first three months of the year, generating a combined value of $9 billion.

One issuance came in with a maturity greater than 30 years and a value of $1 billion, while perpetual issuances saw an increase in both size and number compared to the same period in 2025.

Perpetuals raised a total value of $4.79 billion through 10 deals.US dollar-denominated instruments continued to lead issuance activity, accounting for $46.78 billion or 85 percent of the total volume.

Saudi riyal issuances followed with $4.04 billion.