UAE Islamic finance assets reach AED 1.4T

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Total Islamic finance assets in the UAE reached AED 1.4 trillion, placing the country third globally in the 2025 Islamic Finance Development Indicator.

The number of licensed Islamic financial institutions in the UAE stands at 43.
 
In May 2025, the Cabinet approved the "UAE Strategy for Islamic Finance and Halal Industry 2025-2031," aimed at diversifying the economy and capitalizing on global growth opportunities in these sectors.

It targets increasing domestic Islamic banks’ assets from AED 986 billion to AED 2.56 trillion, raising foreign Islamic banks’ assets operating in the UAE from AED 20 billion to AED 134 billion, boosting local sukuk issuances from AED 206 billion to AED 660 billion. The strategy also aims to increase the value of global sukuk listed in the UAE from AED 165 billion to AED 395 billion. It seeks to expand the UAE’s share of the global halal products market from AED 74 billion to AED 315 billion, Emirates News Agency reported.
 
The strategy aims to seize opportunities in global Islamic markets by establishing a robust system to facilitate global Islamic financial transactions, investments, halal products trade, high-value halal industrial production, and enhancing social and environmental impact for sustainable development.
 
Strategic objectives focus on positioning the UAE’s Islamic finance sector on a global stage, increasing exports by promoting domestic production and re-exporting halal industry products, and supporting high-impact sustainable Islamic charitable work.
 
Strategic initiatives in Islamic finance include developing strong, competitive Islamic financial institutions, boosting their international presence, and enhancing integration between Islamic finance and the halal industry. This is in addition to supporting the global system for sukuk, cash, and Islamic funds markets in the UAE, promoting innovation in Islamic finance, and establishing a framework for high-impact sustainable Islamic finance through international cooperation.
 
In the halal industry, initiatives involve establishing a support system to grow local production of high-value halal products, and developing a halal traceability system to enhance re-exports. They also seek to expand the ecosystem for SMEs and startups in halal industry technology, and strengthen the foundations for promoting halal tourism, modest fashion, and local Islamic identity media.
 
For Islamic charitable work, the strategy aims to advance endowment mechanisms in charity activities across the public and private sectors and to develop transparent impact-tracking solutions for Islamic charitable initiatives.