RIYADH: The global market for environmental, social and governance sukuk reached a record $6.5 billion in the third quarter, bringing total issuance this year to $13.5 billion, Fitch Ratings said.
The surge has already set a new full-year record for 2025, underscoring the growing investor appetite for sustainable Islamic finance instruments, according to the US-based agency.
ESG sukuk accounted for more than 40 percent of all emerging market US-dollar ESG bond issuance excluding China in the first nine months of 2025, up sharply from 18 percent during the same period last year, the report showed.
This rise comes amid a broader push by governments and financial regulators in the Gulf, Southeast Asia, and other emerging markets to develop sustainable finance frameworks.
The global sukuk market topped $1 trillion in 2024, with ESG sukuk exceeding $50 billion, underscoring sustainability’s growing role in Islamic finance, according to a joint report from the London Stock Exchange Group and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, a member of the Islamic Development Bank.
