Value of Islamic banking assets worldwide 2022, by region

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the MENA region led the world in terms of Islamic banking assets in 2022, holding a roughly equal share of total assets each. All other regions held fewer assets than either of these regions alone. Southeast Asia, the region with the third-highest level of Islamic banking assets, held roughly four times less assets than the GCC or MENA, respectively. During the same period, the major share of global Islamic banking assets was held by four of the six GCC countries.

Islamic finance

Islamic banking and finance offers a range of Shariah-compliant products to comply with Islamic trade and monetary law. These include products such as murabaha for loans where the bank purchases an item and resells it to the customer at an agreed upon mark-up, or takaful, which is a type of cooperative insurance, or sukuk, which replaces conventional bonds by giving holders a share in asset performance rather than interest on investment. The United Arab Emirates, which has one of the most mature Islamic banking sectors in the world, has seen a disparity between sukuk and equity investments by the Islamic banking sector throughout the years. Various companies in the country have also offered green and sustainability sukuks, which have brought in billions of U.S. dollars. 

Digitization of Islamic finance products

Digital finance is a key sector and one where Islamic finance has been keen to grow. Although the GCC and MENA region lead the world in Islamic banking assets, it was the United Kingdom that had the highest number of Islamic fintech firms worldwide. The American-based Wahed Invest provides an online platform for simplified investing in Shariah-vetted stocks. The digital financial landscape has also initiated the rise of Shariah-compliant technologies such as blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and other services. However, these products are still in their early stages and have yet to see wide-scale adoption, particularly due to ambivalence surrounding their compliance with Islamic monetary law.