Sukuk worth $174.6 billion issued globally in 2020

The 2020 saw the market close with a record total of short-term and long-term Sukuk primary market issuances amounting to $174.6 billion which is an increase of 19.84 percent over Sukuk issuances in 2019, the 10th anniversary edition of Annual Sukuk Report of the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) research has revealed. 

A sukuk is an Islamic financial certificate, similar to a bond in Western finance, that complies with Islamic religious law commonly known as Sharia.

The longer term Sukuk issuances by sovereigns and financial institutions coupled with an increase in short-term Sukuk issuances by various issuers resulted in maintaining the upward trend of the year 2019.

The report said that as of December 2020, over 90 percent  of the $648 billion Sukuk outstanding globally were issued from well established markets  like Malaysia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Bahrain while the market share of Pakistan, Qatar, Oman, Nigeria, Egypt and regions such as Africa is increasing gradually. 

Also, $98.4 billion Sukuk, with issue size of $100 million or above and with a term of more than a year is set to mature in the next two years 2021 and 2022.

The report mentions that despite the unprecedented situation caused by COVID-19 during 2020, the impact of the pandemic was confined and limited to a few corporate issuers. 

Overall Sukuk remained an attractive instrument and the positive growth trajectory has continued during the first half of 2021.

IIFM is a global standard-setting body of the Islamic Financial Services Industry (IFSI) focusing on standardization of Shari’ah-compliant financial contracts and product templates.