The Gulf projects market declined for the fifth consecutive week on 21 December as only Qatar, Bahrain and Iran registered growth.

Overall, the total value of projects that are planned and under way in the Gulf fell by 0.1 per cent to $2.84 trillion. The index was dragged down by $7.3bn of projects that were either put on hold, cancelled or were completed.

There were nine projects worth $4.85bn that were completed. They included the Ras Girtas Power & Water project in Qatar which, according to sources close to the development, was successfully completed during the week leading up to 21 December.

The impact of projects leaving the index was not balanced by a large number of new projects being launched.  There were just five new schemes totalling $382m announced in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The GCC market, which accounts for 76 per cent of the total Gulf Index, dipped by 0.1 per cent to $2.17 trillion with only the projects markets in Qatar and Bahrain expanding. After a fall of 2.3 per cent the previous week Qatar rebounded with growth of 0.8 per cent, while Bahrain grew by 0.1 per cent.

Three of the other four GCC markets contracted, with the UAE falling by 0.4 per cent to $818bn. The markets for Oman and Saudi Arabia also fell, and Kuwait’s index remained flat.

Despite five weeks of consistent declines, the Index is still up by 2.34 per cent on last year. The best performer is Iraq which has grown by 73.6 per cent. The market for Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia showed positive growth of 19 per cent, 6.9 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. This indicates that the long-term trend for the region is still positive, even though its largest market, the UAE, has fallen by 15.8 per cent.