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Gulf index rises 2 per cent in September

27 September 2023

 

The estimated value of the Gulf projects market rose by 2 per cent from 11 August to 15 September in the seventh straight month of growth for the Gulf Projects Index by regional projects tracker MEED Projects.

This growth was driven primarily by a $48bn rise in the value of the Saudi projects market and a $29bn rise in the Qatari market, alongside a rise of $8.7bn in the UAE. The growth spree in the past seven months has led to the Gulf projects market expanding from $3.1tn in February to $3.5tn in September.

In Saudi Arabia, the $48bn or 3 per cent rise was driven by the launch of several new projects, including three schemes from National Housing Company. The firm launched the $10.7bn Banan City project as part of the Dahiyat al-Fursan development, as well as projects for a $5bn business centre and $2bn sports city in the Dahiyat Khuzam development.

The $29bn value increase in the Qatari market was equivalent to 15 per cent growth, but it was largely driven by the re-estimation of budgets for existing schemes rather than project additions.

Further GCC growth

The UAE projects market also grew by $8.7bn or 1.5 per cent, for a total GCC increase of $78.1bn or 2.8 per cent.

This was dragged down only slightly by a $6.2bn or 3.5 per cent decline in Kuwait and a $1.1bn or 0.6 per cent contraction in Oman. However, the Housing Ministry in Oman also launched its own $1bn Al-Dahariz City development.

The Bahrain market grew marginally, adding $0.3bn or 0.4 per cent in value.

Beyond the GCC, the Iraqi projects market fell by $11.1bn or 3.6 per cent. Iran’s projects market meanwhile contracted marginally, declining by $0.7bn or 0.3 per cent.

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John Bambridge

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