Saudi Arabia has emerged as the Gulf region’s largest dividend payer, distributing an estimated USD 24.5 billion during the first quarter and accounting for almost 84% of all Middle East dividends, stated the inaugural “Global Dividend and Buyback Index” from British-American global asset management group Janus Henderson.
The report further highlighted that Saudi Aramco remained the single largest dividend payer in the global index, underlining the Kingdom’s importance in global shareholder returns.
“Global dividends rose to USD 424.5 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 10.1% year-on-year. Dividend growth was broad-based, with meaningful increases across North America, Europe, Japan, and the United Kingdom, despite a noisy macroeconomic backdrop,” Janus Henderson said.
The Middle East distributed USD 29.2 billion in dividends during the quarter, with underlying payouts rising 4.0% year-on-year.
Janus Henderson’s new index further expands the global asset management group’s long-running dividend research to include share buybacks, providing a more complete picture of how the world’s largest companies return capital to shareholders. It also introduces dedicated analysis of Middle East markets. In Q1, global buybacks reached USD 425.7 billion, marginally ahead of dividend payments, but fell 3.1% from the same period in 2024, suggesting companies are becoming more selective in their approach to shareholder returns.
“The first quarter showed a divergence between dividends and buybacks. Dividend payments accelerated, supported by resilient corporate earnings, while buybacks softened against a backdrop of higher-for-longer interest rates, trade uncertainty, and geopolitical risk,” Janus Henderson noted.
North America continued to dominate global shareholder returns, with the United States alone contributing USD 183.5 billion in dividends, accounting for 46.3% of the index total. Uncle Sam also repurchased USD 266.7 billion of shares, making the world’s largest economy by far the largest market globally for both dividends and buybacks. US dividend growth was broad-based across sectors, with technology, financials, and energy among the key contributors.
“Europe, excluding the United Kingdom, paid USD 67.4 billion in dividends in Q1, up 35.5% year-on-year, boosted by currency and timing effects. Switzerland was the continent’s largest payer, distributing USD 27.3 billion, followed by Denmark at USD 9.4 billion,” the report said.
“The Middle East distributed USD 29.2 billion in dividends during the first quarter, with underlying dividend growth of 4.0% year-on-year. Headline dividends were 5.0% lower, primarily because of calendar effects rather than weaker corporate distributions,” it added further.
While Saudi Arabia was the region’s largest dividend payer, Qatar ranked second by distributing USD 2.0 billion in dividends. The UAE paid USD 1.7 billion in dividends during the quarter. While headline UAE payouts were lower than a year earlier, Janus Henderson cited the timing of the Dubai Islamic Bank’s dividend payment as the main reason behind it, instead of blaming the weaker underlying dividend activity.
“Financials remained the largest contributor to global dividends in Q1, distributing USD 90.8 billion. The sector also led global buybacks, with USD 110.7 billion of repurchases, accounting for more than a third of the index total,” Janus Henderson said.
“Basic materials saw the strongest dividend growth of any industry, with payouts rising 47.1% over the period surveyed. This was driven by elevated demand for critical minerals such as copper and lithium, which are important inputs for data centers, semiconductors, and AI infrastructure,” it added further.
Technology provided the largest amount of the shareholder returns by distributing USD 43.7 billion in dividends. The sector also carried out USD 66.6 billion of buybacks in Q1, underlining the continued importance of major technology companies to global capital returns.
Janus Henderson forecasts global dividend growth of 8.3% in 2026, up from 6.8% in 2025. By contrast, global buybacks are expected to decline 1.1% this year, after rising 6.1% in 2025.
“The outlook for dividends remains supported by resilient earnings, although Janus Henderson notes that higher-for-longer interest rates, geopolitical risk, and pressure on consumer-facing sectors remain important risks. Buybacks are expected to remain more cyclical, providing companies with flexibility if conditions deteriorate,” the agency noted.
Jane Shoemake, Client Portfolio Manager on the Global Equity Income Team at Janus Henderson, said, “Amidst what feels like an increasingly uncertain macro backdrop, the surprise has been the strength of earnings around the world. Those earnings almost always result in higher dividends, and that’s exactly what we’re now seeing across a range of industries and regions.”
“Buybacks add another layer to the story. The absolute level of repurchases remains substantial, broadly in line with dividends in Q1, but the modest year-on-year decline also shows why they should be treated differently. Dividends are generally long-term board decisions based on sustainability, while buybacks are more discretionary and cyclical in nature. In that sense, dividends remain the stronger signal of confidence, while buybacks act as a more flexible shock absorber,” she concluded.