The Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) remains the main growth engine for the global Islamic finance sector, unchecked by the global coronavirus pandemic. Despite weakened profitability, lenders’ sharia-compliant assets increased by 12.7% to $913.5bn in 2020, slightly outpacing the growth witnessed in the previous year.
Saudi Arabia, the six-nation bloc’s largest economy, is being buoyed by a domestic mortgage boom and its growth shows no signs of slowing. Sharia-compliant asset growth remains healthy across the region, outperforming the region’s banking sector as a whole for the year (see figure).
