The Islamic banking and finance market exceeded US$2 trillion in assets globally, strengthening in traditional markets such as Malaysia, Pakistan and the Middle East, and expanding into other destinations for the first time, including in Korea, Australia, and China, says the AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics (CIBE), an advisor and consultancy for Islamic finance.
According to the organisation, countries which recently entered into Islamic banking and finance have also shown good progress, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Oman.
Muhammad Zubair Mughal, Chief Executive Officer, AlHuda CIBE, predicts that the market could exceed US$2.5 trillion dollars in 2015, estimating that Islamic banking will account for 86% share, with sukuk (6%), Islamic funds (4%), takaful (2%), and Islamic microfinance (1%) rounding out the remainder of the pie.
He added that there are more than 1,500 organisations offering Islamic financial services in more than 90 countries worldwide, and that non-Muslim countries take up 40% of this share. On the other hand, Muslim countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia dominate in global Islamic banking, contributing 76% of the market.
Muhammad Zubair Mughal forecast rapid growth of the sukuk market in 2015, and said it could be worth as much as US$150 billion. The Islamic fund market could be valued at US$100 billion. Takaful will contribute a more modest US$20 billion in 2015, a 15% growth rate, with India named as one of its new destinations. Islamic microfinance will also see a positive year, the CEO said.