National and Global Islamic Financial Architecture:
Problems and Possible Solutions for the OIC Member Countries
32
of the Islamic financial sector using advocacy, research awareness and information sharing and
professional development.
2.5. Global Status of Islamic Finance: An Overview
Chart 2.14 shows the regional distribution of Islamic finance.10 Note that the countries
included in different regions, except for rest of the world (ROW), constitute 97% of the global
Islamic finance assets. GCC is clearly the leading region for Islamic finance with assets worth
USD 831.3 billion managed by 387 financial institutions. South East Asia has a total of 222
Islamic financial institutions with assets valued at USD 455.8 billion followed by the Non-GCC
MENA countries that have 169 Islamic financial institutions with assets of USD 431.7 billion.
South Asia has 99 Islamic financial institutions holding assets worth USD41.4 billion. The
remaining countries (ROW) have 101 Islamic financial institutions with assets valued at USD
29.7 billion.
Chart ‎2.14: Islamic Finance in Different Regions
Source: Calculated from data provide in ICD and TR (2015)
2.5.1. Islamic Financial Institutions
Chart 2.15 shows the distribution of Islamic financial assets among the largest 15 Islamic
finance economies. Malaysia has the largest share of Islamic financial assets valued at USD
415.4 billion managed by a total of 77 Islamic financial institutions, and this is followed by
Saudi Arabia that has 105 financial institutions managing USD 413 billion of Islamic financial
assets. Iran, a country with an Islamic financial system, has the third largest Islamic financial
sector with USD 345 billion assets managed by 82 financial institutions. This is followed by
four GCC countries (UAE, Kuwait Qatar and Bahrain) which have significant Islamic financial
10 The countries included in the different regions are the following: GCC — Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia and UAE; Non-GCC — MENA-Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Sudan and Turkey; South East Asia — Indonesia and
Malaysia; South Asia — Bangladesh and Pakistan; ROW (Rest of the World) — all other countries.
831,3
431,7 455,8
41,4 29,7
387
169
222
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GCC Non GCC
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South Asia ROW
No. of Institutions
UDUSD (bn.)
Islamic Finance Assets (US$ bn) No. of Islamic Financial Institutions