Brunei Darussalam maintained its 13th position globally in the Islamic finance development indicator (IFDI) in 2025, reflecting the resilience and continued development of its Islamic finance sector. Brunei Darussalam’s IFDI score, which is based on 2024 data, increased to 31 points in 2025, up from 29 points in 2024, despite the global average declining from 12 to 11 points over the same period. 

These results are reported in the latest 2025 Islamic Finance Development Report, titled 50 Years of Exponential Growth, published by the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). The report evaluates the global performance of the Islamic finance industry across 140 countries, including four newly added countries in 2025: South Sudan, Jamaica, Kosovo, and Lesotho.

The IFDI is a composite, weighted index that measures the overall development of the Islamic finance industry in line with Islamic principles. It assesses performance across five key indicators: Financial Performance, Governance, Sustainability, Awareness, and Knowledge. 

According to the report, the top 10 countries maintained their positions in the IFDI rankings, with Malaysia, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates leading as the top three Islamic finance markets in overall development in 2024. Iraq made its debut in the top 15, entering the IFDI rankings at 14th place with a score of 30, replacing Nigeria from the previous assessment.

The IFDI also highlights the industry’s continued rapid growth, reaching a valuation of USD6.0 trillion in 2024, up from USD4.9 trillion in 2023, marking an impressive 21% year-on-year increase. This achievement is driven by strong performance across several key sectors, including: 

1. Record growth in the Sukuk market, with the global sukuk market surpassing USD1 trillion in outstanding value, alongside an increase of 11% in issuances to USD254.3 billion in 2024;

2. Robust growth in Islamic banking assets, rising by 21% in 2024 to USD4.3 trillion; and

3. Solid expansion in Islamic funds, other Islamic financial institutions (OIFI), and the takaful sector, which together account for USD637 billion in total assets.

Islamic banking continued to dominate the Islamic finance asset distribution in 2024, holding a 72% share of total global Islamic finance assets. This was followed by sukuk at 17%, Islamic funds at 5%, OIFI at 3%, and takaful at 2%. Looking ahead, the IFDI projects total global Islamic finance assets to reach USD9.7 trillion by 2029, signalling sustained growth in the sector.

Despite the overall Financial Performance indicator score declining to 9 points, Brunei Darussalam recorded a notable strength in the takaful sub-indicator, ranking 10th in total takaful assets, valued at USD0.5 billion. Significant improvements were also observed in the Awareness indicator, which increased from 24 to 44 points between IFDI 2024 and IFDI 2025. This was primarily driven by a rise in the number of Islamic finance news publications. In terms of Governance, Brunei Darussalam maintained a full score for the Regulations sub-indicator, contributing to a modest rise in the overall Governance score from 71 points in IFDI 2024 to 72 points in IFDI 2025.

The Islamic Finance Development Report 2025: 50 Years of Exponential Growth can be found on the LSEG website. 

Brunei Darussalam Ranked 13th in Islamic Finance Development 2025 Report