<\/p>\n
The global market for sukuk \u2013 also known as Islamic investment certificates or Islamic bonds \u2013 has surpassed $1 trillion, revealed the London Stock Exchange Group\u2019s (LSEG) 2025 Islamic Investment Review, published on Thursday, 2 July.<\/p>\n
Shariah \u2013 the moral framework many practicing Muslims live by \u2013 prohibits earning or paying interest (riba), requiring investors to acquire profits generated by an underlying, tangible asset. Sukuk represents ownership over such assets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The sukuk market\u2019s growth last year is coupled with a 37% increase in Islamic fund value, reaching $223 billion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to LSEG, this expansion can be attributed to three driving forces: ongoing demand for funding by governments and corporates across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); an escalation in commodity and equity markets; and increased participation from conventional financiers who are experiencing higher yields and seeking diversification.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In 2025, sukuk issuance climbed 14.5%, particularly across the GCC. Non-Islamic markets also contributed to the growth, with foreign currency issuances making up 41% of the total.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) sukuk, which is when proceeds go directly to sustainability projects, rose to $24 billion, reflecting a 54% year-on-year growth.<\/p>\n LSEG credits the need for ESG-labelled Islamic investments, noting how last year also saw the launch of Sustainability-Linked Financing (SLF) sukuk. This was led by a $500 million issue by Emirates Islamic and a $1 billion SLF sukuk by Dubai Islamic Bank.<\/p>\n ESG frameworks and Islamic finance overlap in many ways. According to PwC, the convergence stems from a common, foundational principle: the evasion of harm. For example, Shariah-compliance excludes the financing of certain items like weapons and tobacco \u2013 items that also clash with social and environmental sustainability principles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, the prohibitions of Islamic finance are much more extensive than that of ESG frameworks, encapsulating goods like alcohol and non-halal foods, as well as financial practices like high leverage and interest.<\/p>\n Moreover, although both champion partnership and shared benefits, PwC notes that the two ecosystems diverge in their investment screening approaches: Islamic finance screening is exclusion-based, adhering to widely-recognised rules, whereas ESG screenings are led by client mandates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There is also a size-related mismatch. The ESG asset market reached roughly $53 trillion in 2025. It is exponentially bigger than the IF market, meaning significantly larger datasets and subsequently greater data needs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Additionally, Islamic finance is constrained by the limited number of assets, resulting in concentrated portfolios and equities. 44% of Shariah-compliant equities lie in major US tech-companies, resulting in dependency on a volatile sector.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For LSEG, the continued expansion of Islamic finance relies on availability of investable assets, alongside further integration, diversification, and innovation, as well as growing ties with ESG projects.<\/p>\n \u201cIslamic finance is entering a new phase of maturity, with strong growth across asset classes and rising global investor participation,\u201d said Mustafa Adil, Head of Islamic Finance at LSEG. \u201cSukuk is now established as a mainstream funding tool, while equities and funds continue to expand, supported by demand for diversification and values-based investment strategies.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The global market for sukuk \u2013 also known as Islamic investment certificates or Islamic bonds \u2013 has surpassed $1 trillion, revealed the London Stock Exchange Group\u2019s (LSEG) 2025 Islamic Investment Review, published on Thursday, 2 July. Shariah \u2013 the moral framework many practicing Muslims live by \u2013 prohibits earning or paying interest (riba), requiring investors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6325,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bez-rubriki"],"featured_image_src":{"landsacpe":["https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Global-ETF-33-800x445.webp",800,445,true],"list":["https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Global-ETF-33-463x348.webp",463,348,true],"medium":["https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Global-ETF-33-300x200.webp",300,200,true],"full":["https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Global-ETF-33.webp",800,533,false]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6324"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6326,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6324\/revisions\/6326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relinvestmentsgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}