Labelled bond issuance climbs 14% to $322 billion in first quarter says BofA

Investing.com -- Labelled bond issuance reached $322 billion in the first quarter of 2026, marking a 14% increase from the $283 billion issued in the same period last year, according to Bank of America.

Tickers with at least $2 billion equivalent in first-quarter issuance accounted for 55% of volumes, up from 45% a year earlier. Key agencies including Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau and Caisse d’Amortissement de la Dette Sociale, along with the Inter-American Development Bank, showed outsized issuance during the quarter.

Green bonds represented 53% of total first-quarter labelled bond volumes at $170 billion, up 19% from $142 billion in the prior-year period. Financials contributed 29% of green bond issuance, while corporates accounted for 28%. Sovereigns made up 24% of the total, with notable issuance from the United Kingdom at £6.25 billion, Germany at €6.5 billion, Italy at €5.0 billion and Austria at €4 billion.

Sustainability bonds totaled $90 billion, representing 28% of first-quarter issuance and a 1.8% increase from last year. Social bonds rose 27% to $53 billion from $42 billion, driven primarily by a $10.6 billion increase from government agencies.

Government agency issuance nearly doubled from $45 billion to $82 billion between the first quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau and Caisse d’Amortissement de la Dette Sociale together issued almost $50 billion equivalent. Sovereign issuance increased by $20 billion to $56 billion, while supranational issuance declined by $34 billion to $48 billion.

The euro accounted for 48% of labelled issuance in the first quarter, up from 47% in the prior-year period. The dollar’s share fell to 16% from 21%. The pound sterling increased from 7% to 8%, and the yuan rose to 6% from 4%.

Sustainability-linked bond issuance declined to $5.5 billion from $8.2 billion. The United States saw $3.1 billion in labelled bonds during the first quarter, compared to $2.1 billion in the same period last year.

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