IslamicFinance.de

The Islamic world is sizeable market by any global standard: 1.7 billion consumers, with a birth rate growing two times the pace of the world average. Consumer spending in 2014 tallied $1.8 trillion (Dh6.6 trillion) and is slated to surge to $2.6 trillion by 2020 according to a study by Thomson Reuters. The market development is being led primarily by a handful of countries with Malaysia, the UAE and Singapore standing out. The fastest growing sectors are halal food, halal travel and leisure, the pharmaceutical and cosmetics arena and Islamic finance. But the reality is too many countries are being left behind. Poverty rates remain too high, with a quarter of the population for example in Egypt still living on less than $2 a day.