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The first three quarters of 2017 have seen initial public offerings (IPOs) of 1,156 firms, more than the total number of IPOs in all of 2016. Looking at just the first three quarters of both years, IPOs are up 59% in numbers and 55% in proceeds this year. For the first nine months of the year, IPOs raised a total of $126.9 billion in capital.

The third quarter’s largest IPO was Switzerland’s Landis+Gyr, which hauled in $2.4 billion in its debut on the Swiss SIX exchange. The three stock exchanges that saw the most action in the third quarter were Shanghai (SSE) with 56 IPOs and capital raises totaling $4 billion; Hong Kong (HKEx and GEM) with 36 IPOs and total capital raised of $3.9 billion; and Sao Paulo (B3) with $3.6 billion raised in six IPOs.

The data were published Wednesday by Ernst and Young Global (EY) in their “Global IPO Trends: Q3 2017” report, and includes all deals that have closed through September 15 and EY’s expectations of deals that will close in the last two weeks of the month.

EY estimates that for the full 2017 calendar year the total number of global IPOs could rise to between 1,600 and 1,700 and raise between $190 billion and $200 billion in capital. If those estimates materialize, 2017 will be the best year for global IPOs since 2007.

The Asia-Pacific region dominated the global IPO market in the third quarter, accounting for 60% of all IPOs and 42% of capital raised.

In the Americas region, IPO deal numbers rose by 57% and capital raised increased by 151%. EY noted that 2016 was an unusually slow year for U.S. IPOs due to uncertainties leading up to last November’s elections, the possibility of more interest rate increases and narrower transaction windows.

In EY’s EMEIA (Europe, Middle East, India and Africa) region, the number of IPOs rose by 38% year over year and proceeds increased by 47% compared to the first nine months of 2016.

Industrials was the sector with the most third-quarter IPOs — 70, raising $4.9 billion — but the technology sector outraised all other sectors with $5.9 billion in proceeds on 52 IPOs.

In the United States, the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange have accounted for 111 IPOs in the first nine months of the year and $26.5 billion in proceeds. The median deal size was $116.7 million. There were 27 IPOs in the third quarter, raising $3.5 billion and accounting for 63% of all deals in the Americas region and 39% of all capital raised.

EY’s Americas IPO Markets Leader Jackie Kelley said:

US market activity has accelerated in September setting the stage for continued strength through year-end. With equity indices near all-time highs and constrained volatility, the pipeline continues to build across sectors, led by health care and technology. We see companies ramping up their public company readiness activities in anticipation of filings in Q4 2017 or early 2018.

The Asia-Pacific region led the global IPO market in both number of deals and capital raised in both 2015 and 2016. Even with the uptick in U.S. IPOs this year, Asia-Pacific has maintained its lead in both number of deals and capital raised.

Mainland China exchanges were the most active in the region, hosting 353 IPOs in the first nine months of 2017, ahead of stock exchanges in Hong Kong (105), Australia (61), Japan (57) and South Korea (42).

EY Asia-Pacific IPO Leader Ringo Choi said:

Asia-Pacific continued its dominance on the global IPO market in the third quarter and the outlook for the fourth quarter, historically the year’s busiest for new listings, is even more upbeat. Hong Kong remains the preferred hub for cross-border listings in Asia-Pacific while other exchanges in the region are underpinned by their strong domestic listings. In the longer term, solid economic fundamentals, plus government action to support markets and economies in countries like China, Singapore, Australia and Japan, should keep listings strong. However, tensions in the Korean Peninsula could create bumps in the IPO road ahead.

The top four exchanges ranked by capital raised in the first nine months of 2017 are:

1. New York Stock Exchange (NYSE): $21.8 billion
2. Shanghai (SSE): $15.1 billion
3. Hong Kong (HKEx and GEM): $11.0 billion
4. Shenzhen (SZSE and Chinext): $10.3 billion