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Last year was the best year on record for the GCC projects market as the region continues to enjoy unprecedented levels of capital expenditure across all sectors. 

According to data from the MEED Projects project-tracking platform, a total of $264bn-worth of contracts were awarded last year, some 6.5% higher than the previous record of $248bn set in 2023, and more than double 2022’s $124bn number.

Saudi Arabia was once again the largest market, with $144.3bn-worth of contracts let, the highest total ever recorded by a single country in the region. This represented a rise of 22.3% on the $118bn-worth of contracts awarded in 2023 – itself a record – and underlines the kingdom’s commitment to its transformative Vision 2030. 

The UAE was the second-largest market in the GCC, with $81.3bn-worth of contract awards. This marked a decline of 12.1% on the previous year, but was still its second-highest annual total and far above its $46.9bn 10-year average.

The other four GCC projects markets recorded much lower contract award totals, although Kuwait and Oman, at $9.2bn and $11.3bn, respectively, posted their best numbers since 2017.

By sector

In terms of sectors, construction remains the single-largest market segment, with $72.8bn-worth of signed contracts, a fall of 10.5% from 2023’s record number. It was almost matched by the power sector, which had the highest number of deals ever, at $64.4bn, driven primarily by a considerable increase in new renewable energy schemes.

Record levels of expenditure were also seen in the transport and infrastructure and oil segments, with respective project totals of $32.3bn and $28bn.

New paradigm 

Last year’s performance dispels any notion that the sharp rise in project expenditure in 2023 was an outlier and demonstrates the region’s new paradigm for projects activity. 

The sole exception remains Qatar, which has struggled to repeat the levels of spending seen in advance of the 2020 Fifa World Cup. In 2024, it awarded some $15.7bn-worth of contracts, below its $17.5bn 10-year average.

The past two years have been marked by a unique convergence of heavy hydrocarbons, real estate and utilities spending, ensuring that stakeholders across all market segments have benefitted from the increased expenditure.

This has been reflected by the sectoral diversity of 2024’s largest projects.

Leading the way was the $5.6bn contract to design and build Dubai Metro’s Blue Line, which was awarded in December to a Turkish/Chinese consortium. It was closely followed by a $5.5bn deal to build Adnoc’s liquefied natural gas terminal in Ruwais, while the $4.7bn Trojena main dam contract at Neom, awarded to Italy’s Webuild, rounded off the top three. 

Other top 10 signed projects last year include the second phase of Qatar’s North Field Production Sustainability programme ($4bn), the high-voltage direct current scheme interconnecting the three major Saudi Electricity Company operating areas ($3.7bn), the 3,600MW Qurrayah combined-cycle power plant ($3.6bn), also in the kingdom, and its National Housing Company’s 20,000 housing unit deal ($3bn).

Leading contractors

In terms of the top contractors by value of work won in 2024, China’s Sepco 3 led the way in the oil, gas, power, water and industrials market segments, with an estimated $9.1bn-worth of awarded contracts. 

This is the first time a Chinese contractor has ranked first in any given year, reflecting the increasing dominance of Chinese firms in the GCC projects market. 

Other international engineering, procurement and construction contractors in the top 10 include Italy’s Saipem, India’s Larsen & Toubro, South Korea’s Samsung E&A and Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas.

Two regional contractors appear in the rankings. Saudi Arabia’s Alfanar Projects is in sixth place at $5.5bn, followed by Abu Dhabi’s NMDC in ninth position at $4.1bn.    

On the civil construction side, covering the construction and transport sectors, China State Construction Engineering Corporation is ranked first with $5.2bn of awarded work. In second and third place are Saudi Binladin Group and its compatriot Modern Building Leaders, with $3.5bn and $2.5bn, respectively. 

Rounding off the top five are two other Chinese firms: CRRC Corporation and China Harbour Engineering Company. 

Gigaproject expenditure

Another notable feature of the market last year was the performance of Saudi Arabia’s gigaprojects. While the $850bn-plus gigaprojects programme has made headlines in recent years, spending on Public Investment Fund subsidiary and other similar major government expenditure drives was actually down on 2023. 

After year-on-year growth in the five years up to 2023, when just under $33bn-worth of gigaproject contracts were awarded, in 2024, the total fell by 40% to just $20.2bn. This confirms the slowdown in gigaproject activity following the pause and reprioritisation in the programme reported early last year.

At this stage, it is unclear if the programme will continue at its previous pace, with some observers saying Riyadh will focus on its event-driven developments, such as the 2030 World Expo and 2034 Fifa World Cup. 

However, if gigaproject expenditure does accelerate from its 2024 levels, then Saudi Arabia and the regional projects market as a whole could potentially reach even greater heights in 2025.

Published on 31 December 2024 and distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the MEED Yearbook 2025 includes:

The MEED Yearbook 2025 country data files include: