Despite resilient venture funding, Asia-Pacific (APAC) deal activity experienced a year-on-year (YoY) slowdown of 5% in line with the global trend during the first three quarters (Q1-Q3) of 2026. Cautious dealmakers are backing away, forcing capital to pivot exclusively toward high-growth opportunities, reveals GlobalData, a leading intelligence and productivity platform.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that the APAC deal activity (mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity and venture capital (VC)) faced a clear slowdown, marked by a 13% YoY drop in announced M&As during the review period.

Modest YoY 6% growth in venture financing was not enough to counter the substantial decline of M&A activity, indicating continued investor interest in select innovation-led and high-growth opportunities. Meanwhile, private equity activity also weakened, with deal volume falling by 6%.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “M&A accounted for over half of the region’s total transaction volume. The substantial decline in M&A dragged down the overall APAC deal volume. The divergence between M&A and venture financing and decline in private equity activity suggest that investors remain willing to support businesses with scalable growth prospects, although broader corporate deal-making remains constrained.”

China emerged as the key growth market, recording a 13% YoY increase in deal activity during Q1-Q3 2026. India also remained resilient, with deal volume rising by 4%. These gains, however, were insufficient to compensate for declines across several other key APAC markets.

Japan recorded a 29% YoY decline, while Australia saw deal activity fall by 15%. Singapore also registered a 12% decrease. South Korea and Hong Kong experienced relatively modest declines of 2% each, while Malaysia and New Zealand saw activity fall by 6% and 9%, respectively.

Bose concludes: “China and India provided a degree of support to APAC deal activity, but the broad-based weakness across several major and emerging markets kept the regional performance in negative territory. A sustained recovery in overall deal activity will depend on improving confidence among strategic buyers, private equity firms, and investors across the region.”

Note: Historic data may change in case some deals get added to previous months because of a delay in disclosure of information in the public domain.