RIYADH: Saudi Arabia led the Gulf Cooperation Council’s projects market in the second quarter of this year, while other member states grappled with declines amid the economic fallout from the Iran war, a new analysis showed.
In its latest report, Kamco Invest revealed that the Kingdom awarded contracts worth $30 billion in the three months to the end of June, representing an increase of 160.4 percent compared with the previous three months.
On an annual basis, Saudi Arabia’s project awards expanded 53.6 percent, underscoring the Kingdom’s resilience and continued momentum under Vision 2030-related initiatives.
Separate data from S&P Global also pointed to continued strength in the Kingdom’s construction sector. The latest Al Rajhi Capital Saudi Construction Index showed construction activity expanded at its fastest pace this year in June, driven by a sharp rebound in new orders and broad-based gains across residential, non-residential, and infrastructure segments.
S&P Global said the Kingdom’s Construction Index rose to 56.3 in June from 51.2 in May, marking the second consecutive month above the 50-point expansion mark.
“Saudi Arabia was the only country in the GCC that recorded an increase in total projects awarded in terms of quarter on quarter comparison and year on year comparison,” Kamco Invest said.
It added: “This broad-based upturn was spearheaded by the construction sector, which recorded a 184.4 percent year-on-year surge in contract awards to reach $14.2 billion, compared to $5.0 billion in the second quarter of 2025, followed by the gas sector, which escalated from $800 million in projects awarded during the second quarter of 2025 to $4.4 billion in contracts awarded in the second quarter of this year.”
Earlier this month, a report by the Saudi Contractors Authority revealed that the Kingdom awarded 25 projects with a combined value of $7.84 billion in June.
Across the GCC, the aggregate value of contracts awarded fell 25.4 percent quarter on quarter to $59.4 billion from $79.6 billion in the previous quarter.
Qatar experienced the steepest contraction, with project awards plummeting to $931 million in the second quarter compared with $9.3 billion in the previous three months.
In the UAE, total awards declined 5.4 percent year on year to $20.5 billion and dropped 56.6 percent quarter on quarter.
Kuwait saw a 49.1 percent year-on-year increase to $2 billion, though quarter-on-quarter awards dropped 65.4 percent.
The total value of contracts awarded in Oman witnessed a year-on-year jump of 341.7 percent to $5.9 billion, but declined 0.2 percent quarter on quarter.
Regarding the future outlook, the report said that recent efforts to resolve the conflict in the region have bolstered the outlook for the GCC projects market in both the short and long term.
Citing data compiled by MEED, Kamco Invest added that the GCC project pipeline includes $2.05 trillion in upcoming projects, with Saudi Arabia representing over 50 percent of the total and the UAE accounting for 26.1 percent.
