Saudi Arabia Dominates GCC Projects Market in Q3 2025 with $28.1 Billion in Awards

Saudi Arabia emerged as the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) projects leader in the third quarter of 2025, securing $28.1 billion worth of contract awards — more than half of the region’s total, according to a new report from Kamco Invest.

The Kingdom accounted for 51.3 percent of the GCC’s overall project activity, which totaled $54.8 billion during the quarter. However, regional contract awards fell 27 percent year-on-year, reflecting a slowdown in project momentum across several key sectors.

Kamco’s report noted that despite the third-quarter dip, project activity is expected to strengthen in the final months of the year. “Contract awards are expected to gain momentum in the fourth quarter of the year, driven primarily by recoveries in Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” the report said. Nevertheless, the firm cautioned that total awards for 2025 are likely to fall short of last year’s record levels.

Saudi Arabia Leads Despite Sectoral Slowdown

Within Saudi Arabia, the power sector recorded the highest value of awards at $9.8 billion, compared with $17.1 billion a year earlier. Construction followed with $5.2 billion in new contracts, while oil projects totaled $3.9 billion. Notable awards included an $853 million road project for Almabani General Contractors and a $167 million contract for a Pirelli tyre plant in King Abdullah Economic City.

Over the first nine months of 2025, Saudi project awards nearly halved to $61.5 billion from $116.6 billion the previous year. Despite this, a separate report by Knight Frank highlighted a 20 percent increase in contracts tied to the Kingdom’s giga-projects, which reached $196 billion in 2025 — a sign of accelerated progress from planning to execution across major Vision 2030 initiatives.

“Overall project activity in Saudi Arabia has been sluggish throughout 2025,” Kamco said. “However, the Kingdom’s broader economic performance has been better than previously expected.”

Mixed Performance Across the GCC

The UAE, which topped the GCC’s project market in the previous quarter, slipped to third place after a sharp 65.8 percent year-on-year decline to $6.7 billion in Q3. Over the first nine months, total awards dropped 18 percent to $59.7 billion. Major contracts included a $593 million deal for Sharjah’s Madar Mall and a $300 million award for the Erisha Smart Manufacturing Hub in Ras Al-Khaimah.

Qatar was a rare bright spot, with contract awards surging 115.9 percent to $13.6 billion in the third quarter, supported by preparations for the 2030 Asian Games. China Offshore Oil Engineering secured roughly $4 billion in contracts for the Bul Hanine offshore field.

Kuwait also showed improvement, with Q3 awards rising 33.8 percent to $4.3 billion, led by the $4 billion Al Zour North IWPP phases two and three project.

Outlook

Kamco expects project awards to rebound in the final quarter of 2025, spurred by renewed activity in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The GCC’s total pre-execution pipeline stands at about $1.78 trillion, dominated by construction ($624.2 billion), transport ($300 billion), and power ($294.2 billion).

Saudi Arabia leads this pipeline with $887 billion in planned projects, followed by the UAE with $434 billion. Saudi Aramco alone is overseeing around $50 billion in ongoing engineering, procurement, and construction contracts and plans to launch 99 new projects over the next three years.