Financial and operational performance of GCC equity stock exchanges: A comparative study from 2020 to 2025

Abstract

Stock exchanges in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have grown considerably in recent years, evolving into important platforms for capital formation, economic diversification, and regional investment. This study compares the financial and operational performance of the seven GCC equity stock exchanges, namely the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), Bahrain Bourse (BHB), Boursa Kuwait (BK), Dubai Financial Market (DFM), Muscat Stock Exchange (MSM), Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE), and Saudi Exchange (Tadawul), over the period from 2020 to 2025. Using secondary data from the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), the analysis covers six performance indicators, market capitalisation, value of stocks traded, number of listed companies, number of trading days, number of transactions, and new listings, over a window that captures the pandemic recovery period, index inclusion reforms, and a wave of new listings across the region. The findings confirm the dominant position of the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) across almost all indicators, while revealing a remarkable growth trajectory for the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, which emerged as the second ranked exchange by 2025 after recording market capitalisation growth of over 323 per cent since 2020. The Dubai Financial Market also shows consistent upward momentum, while performance gaps are identified in the Bahrain Bourse and, to a lesser extent, the Qatar Stock Exchange. The study proposes targeted suggestions for improvement, including measures to revive listing activity, strengthen liquidity, and expand foreign investor access, and it contributes an updated comparative framework to the literature on GCC capital markets.