Saudi Arabia plans Aramco listing in London, Hong Kong, and New York
The world's largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, is expected to go public sometime in 2018 Reuters

The number of global initial public offerings surged in 2017, making it the most active year since 2007, a new study has shown.

Consultancy firm Ernst and Young said 1,624 IPOs were registered through the year with $188.8bn (£141.7bn) raised, a 49% increase by the number of deals and a 40% expansion by capital raised compared to 2016.

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The increase was primarily driven by strong activity in the Asia-Pacific region, with stock exchanges there taking the top three spots globally by deal number.

Some 935 new listings were recorded in the Asia-Pacific region, with Greater China accounting for nearly two-thirds of the regional total.

"Asia-Pacific saw rapid growth in IPO numbers in 2017 and cemented the region's position as the world's most active for new listings," said Ringo Choi, EY Asia-Pacific IPO leader.

"But total proceeds have declined this year compared to 2016, due to noticeably fewer mega IPOs and a higher number of smaller deals across the region."

With the global economy on an upward trend, EY said 2018 is likely to be an even stronger year for IPOs.

Saudi Arabia's massive state-run oil company, Saudi Aramco, is among the firms that are set to go public next year.

Martin Steinbach, EY global leader, said: "The outlook appears bright, driven by lower volatility across regions, high valuation levels and a renewed appetite for cross-border IPOs particularly in the US, Hong Kong and London.

"The stronger-than-expected turnaround in economic activity in the eurozone has boosted expectations for global economic growth.

"All the major engines of growth in the global economy are now synchronized in an upward trajectory for the first time since the end of the global financial crisis."