Islamic Fintech has expanded rapidly over the past decade, with early growth driven by payments, remittances, and digital access to financial services. As the sector matures, attention is shifting from distribution-led expansion toward balance sheet integrity, asset backing, and governance.

This reflects wider global developments, where reserve transparency, verification, and consumer protection are receiving increased scrutiny. Within this environment, digital gold is emerging as a practical retail-facing expression of asset-backed financial design aligned with established Shariah principles. 

Asset backing has long defined Islamic finance, grounded in tangibility, ownership clarity, and disciplined risk-taking. In practice, however, many early Islamic Fintech models mirrored conventional digital finance, where asset exposure was indirect or implicit. Recent developments across digital assets, tokenization, and reserve-backed instruments have renewed emphasis on explicit asset anchoring and verification. These shifts place Islamic finance in closer alignment with evolving regulatory and market expectations.

Gold occupies a distinct position within Islamic jurisprudence as a ribawi asset governed by clear rules on exchange, ownership, and delivery. Unlike many real-world assets now being explored for digital representation, gold benefits from a mature global market infrastructure. Refining standards, custody practices, pricing benchmarks, and audit conventions are widely established, reducing structural ambiguity. These characteristics make gold comparatively easier to translate into digital ownership models without altering its underlying financial or Shariah attributes.

Digital gold models apply modern financial infrastructure to physical gold through fractional access, digital records, and institutional custody. While technology improves accessibility and operational efficiency, it does not alter the requirement for legally enforceable ownership of the underlying asset.

In Islamic finance, this distinction is central. Structures that confer ownership of physical gold differ materially from arrangements that provide contractual exposure to gold prices. The credibility of digital gold therefore rests on ownership mechanics rather than interface or distribution.

Governance frameworks determine the integrity of digital gold structures. Core considerations include asset segregation, custodian independence, audit scope and frequency, and transparency of redemption processes. Digital ledgers and automation can support traceability, but they do not replace legal title or physical verification. From both regulatory and Shariah perspectives, emphasis is increasingly placed on continuous assurance and clear disclosure rather than one-time validation.

Digital gold is often discussed alongside gold-backed stablecoins and other tokenized commodities. While these instruments share asset-linked characteristics, their objectives and risk profiles differ. Stablecoins typically prioritize transactional liquidity, while digital gold savings emphasize ownership and capital preservation. Tokenized commodities introduce further considerations around transferability and enforceability, reinforcing the need for precise classification across asset-backed digital finance.

Despite its structural alignment with Shariah principles, digital gold faces ongoing challenges. Governance standards vary across jurisdictions, consumer understanding of asset-backed claims remains uneven, and regulatory treatment of pooled custody arrangements continues to evolve.

As Islamic fintech enters its next phase, the role of digital gold will be shaped less by technological capability and more by the robustness of ownership, governance, and verification frameworks. Whether the ecosystem can converge on common benchmarks for asset-backed retail finance remains an open question with material implications for the sector.

Today, fintech and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications are revolutionizing the financial world, pushing it into uncharted territory. While Fintech often integrates with traditional financial institutions, decentralized finance focuses on blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) based solutions. Both areas are being carefully examined through the lens of Islamic finance, as experts explore the potential opportunities they may offer.

Starting with Bitcoin, the debate over the compatibility of cryptocurrencies with Islamic finance continues to evolve, sparking diverse interpretations. Scholars and economists often hold contrasting views, leaving Muslim investors in a gray area between halal (permissible) and haram (forbidden) investments. However, it seems inevitable that digital assets will become a central part of financial management in the future. Therefore, this issue should not be reduced to a simple halal-haram dichotomy but should instead be examined from multiple angles to highlight its permissibility or prohibition.

Conceptualized as “Decentralized Islamic Finance”, there are both Islamic finance applications and traditional practices deemed permissible in this space. To address this complexity, the following categorization can be applied:

1. Decentralized finance applications based on Islamic finance principles
2. Islamic finance-compliant decentralized finance applications
3. Islamic finance-compliant decentralized finance applications integrated with traditional finance
4. Decentralized finance applications integrated with traditional finance
5. Traditional finance applications compliant with Islamic finance principles

According to this framework, the first three categories — Islamic finance-based (1), Islamic finance-compliant (2), and Islamic finance-compliant decentralized finance integrated with traditional finance (3) — fall under the umbrella of Decentralized Islamic Finance. All applications emerging within this scope can be evaluated under this framework.

Since decentralized finance began gaining traction in 2016, Islamic finance-compliant digital assets, exchanges, and technology solutions have started to emerge. However, due to the nascent nature of the field, unclear business models, and sustainability challenges, many initiatives have struggled to survive. Early examples include FICE adab solutions, Qintar token, hada dbank, Bayan token, ateon, biocoin, noorcoin, IslamiChain, and ZakatTech. While these projects generated excitement, most failed to sustain themselves. A few, like OneGram, continue to operate passively. This is a common trend in the broader blockchain economy, where many projects fade quickly.

Today, several decentralized finance applications offering Islamic finance services are active and fall under the first category of my framework. Examples include Marhaba DeFi, Islamic Coin, Qitmeer, Takadao, and Cryptozakat. Additionally, there are initiatives that, while not fully decentralized, provide blockchain-based solutions or prepare for new innovations. Tokenization of real-world assets also fits into this ecosystem.

Layer 1 blockchain platforms like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, along with their digital assets, are also considered compliant with Islamic finance. Notably, this assessment comes from the Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB), a body of Islamic scholars. They have stated that these digital assets do not inherently conflict with Islamic finance principles.

Thirdly, there are Islamic finance-compliant service providers, such as exchanges facilitating digital asset trading. Platforms like Fasset, Rain, and Coinmena fall into this category, enabling broader access to digital assets.

To evaluate decentralized finance applications, an assessment canvas with three main pillars can be used: 

• Purpose and Design, Technical Infrastructure, and Governance. Each pillar includes specific building blocks:
• Technical: Infrastructure, digital asset, smart contract structure, and interoperability with other chains and applications.
• Governance: Execution, Shariah advisory board, official establishment and representation, and oversight.

This canvas provides a structured framework for assessing the compliance and viability of decentralized finance applications within the Islamic finance context.

Decentralized finance is poised to play an increasingly significant role in our financial lives. Given the alignment of blockchain’s transparency, reliability, and distributed nature with Islamic finance principles, it is crucial to address this topic systematically. Ignoring this space could deprive Muslim communities of a transformative technology and its benefits.

The rise of asset-backed digital assets and global investment opportunities presents a unique chance to enhance the sustainability and reach of Islamic finance. Neglecting this potential could result in significant missed opportunities.

As the potential of Decentralized Islamic Finance becomes clearer, I believe all stakeholders will grow more enthusiastic about its possibilities. Until then, we will continue refining the ecosystem map and advancing this transformative field.

Over the last decade, Fintech has moved into the mainstream of financial services and consumer behavior. The Fintech market revenue is projected to grow fivefold to $1.5 trillion by 2030, with growth driven in part by digital access expanding faster than traditional offerings.

Islamic Fintech is emerging along with this broader momentum, to address the increasing demand for Shariah compliant and ethical products. The global Islamic Fintech market 198 billion in 2024/25 and is projected to reach USD 341 billion by 2029, growing at 11.5% per year. Yet it still represents a small share of global Fintech activity. That gap highlights where the next phase of Islamic Fintech growth is likely to come from.

In any conversation related to technology, it’s difficult to escape the ‘AI’ hyperbole and the lofty expectations set by marketers. But practically speaking, AI does provide a golden opportunity to build and iterate quickly and address structural issues. Operational scaling has long been a challenge in Islamic finance. Due to bespoke products, manual Shariah reviews, lack of data and high compliance costs.  AI, if used responsibly, can address many of these issues, from supporting alternative credit scoring for underserved SMEs, automating Shariah monitoring, and improving risk management. The value is simple, AI can offer lower cost, faster decisions, and wider access, while preserving ethical considerations.

While Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have had a characteristically frenetic 2025, the enterprise use of the underlying blockchain technology and real-world asset tokenisation continues to mature. Global financial giants such as Blackrock and JP Morgan are investing heavily, spurred on by regulatory tailwinds from the U.S. Islamic finance relies on clear ownership, asset-backing, and trust. Blockchain fits naturally here. Sukuk, commodities or receivables can be issued and managed more efficiently through distributed ledgers. This reduces cost, improves settlement, and democratises access for smaller investors. Progress has continued through 2025, Fasset, the Islamic Finance Super App, is utilising blockchain to offer fractional tokenised equities, blockchain-payments, and develop the first ‘stablecoin-based Shariah compliant’ banking model, following the securing of a provisional banking license. In parallel, firms such as Blade Labs are exploring ways blockchain can be used to improve efficiency, transparency, and auditability in Islamic finance contracts.

Many Islamic financial products sit outside daily economic flows. Users must seek them out. That makes distribution expensive and slow.  Embedded finance changes this.  Shariah compliant BNPL or micro-takaful could sit inside e-commerce platforms, mobile apps and digital transaction flows.  According to a report by Dealroom and ABN AMRO Ventures, the global embedded finance market value is expected to reach $7.2 trillion by 2030. There is a clear opportunity to provide accessible Islamic financial services, to address the growing shift to integrated financial services.

Across successive Global Islamic Fintech Reports, access to capital and navigating regulatory requirements is consistently highlighted as the main hurdles by Islamic Fintech founders. One practical option to address both constraints is to focus on Business-to-Business (B2B) or Business-to-Business-to-Consumer (B2B2C) models. BCG expect these markets to grow by over $700 billion in annual revenues by 2030. Banks are increasingly cultivating innovation through investments, acquisitions, and partnerships, in order to stay relevant. Traditional Islamic banks already have capital, the regulatory permissions, and customer distribution in place. Fintechs are nimble, they can build new products and deploy far faster than banks typically can internally. In an increasingly digital and innovation driven environment, where capital and regulatory access is still paramount, strategic partnership delivers meaningful value for incumbents and Fintechs alike. 

Over the last couple of years, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has moved towards the center of the global Fintech market. Today, the region is home to more than 1,000 Fintech companies, with multiple unicorns and growing capital inflows. A young, mobile-first population, strong government backing, and investment in digital infrastructure have helped Fintechs to scale quickly across payments, lending, and digital banking. Qatar continues to push ahead in Fintech and offers a supportive environment ideal for innovation. This momentum is reflected in investment activity: in 2024, Fintech accounted for a significant share of Qatar’s venture funding, with over 500% year-on-year growth. Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) plays a central role in shaping this ecosystem. Through its Fintech friendly framework, QFC offers company incorporation with 100% foreign ownership, fast licensing, and a common-law environment familiar to international founders.

QFC also works closely with Qatar Central Bank, Qatar Fintech Hub, and Qatar Development Bank, giving founders access to coordinated pathways that combine sandboxes, pilots, funding support, grants and partnerships. Qatar offers practical conditions for building new financial products. The digitally engaged population, a leading Islamic finance sector and dedicated Fintech support programs provide a space for innovation, particularly for Islamic Fintech use cases, to test and scale.

Islamic Fintech is poised to enter the next phase of growth. Emerging technologies such as AI, blockchain, and open banking will enable new products and lower barriers to entry. As supportive regulatory frameworks and ecosystem support matures, more players are likely to enter the market. This will intensify competition, but also create opportunities for partnership, collaboration, and selective consolidation. Over time, these trends should lead to stronger products and wider access to Shariah compliant financial services.

Asset tokenization is emerging as a practical way to modernize Islamic capital markets by representing real-world financial claims and ownership rights as programmable digital tokens. Tokenized sukuk is a particularly relevant use case, where issuance, reporting, and secondary-market activity can become more transparent, automated, and auditable. However, scaling from pilots to resilient digital markets requires more than token standards; it requires enabling components that support macro-linked payout logic, trusted macroeconomic data inputs, and stable, well-governed market functioning. Two capabilities are especially important in this context:

• GDP-linked (or GDP-sensitive) sukuk, where distributions adjust according to transparent economic indicators, improving alignment with real economic capacity. In practice, GDP-linked features typically rely on official published GDP data with defined lags, smoothing rules, and fallback provisions to handle revisions and reporting delays.
• Advanced inflation tracking, where higher-integrity data collection and reporting improve confidence in real-return assessment and index-aware cashflow management.

Complementary data and governance tools can support macro-linked instruments in tokenized markets. Truflation provides higher-frequency (e.g., daily-updated) CPI/inflation indicators with a documented methodology; Chainalysis’ Crypto Adoption Index is a proxy for digital-asset adoption/usage; Consensys surveys capture adoption perceptions; and Snapshot supports governance (e.g., voting on data sources and parameters) rather than producing macro indicators. To complement these technologies, the Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) has introduced a suite of complementary innovative solutions that can serve as enabling components for these capabilities: the Smart Credit Management System (SCMS) (patented), Smart Voucher (patented), and the Smart Stabilization System (SSS) (patent pending). Together, they form an infrastructure stack that strengthens discipline, programmability, data-driven execution, and market stability - key ingredients for GDP-linked sukuk and enhanced inflation-tracking tools. GDP-linked and inflation-aware structures are not only “token design” questions; they are systems challenges involving data governance, execution integrity, market stability, and inclusive distribution. IsDBI’s innovative solutions help address these constraints in an integrated manner.

SCMS (Patented): A Market Integrity and Discipline Layer
The Smart Credit Management System provides on-chain recording of payment behavior, transparent credit indicators, and structured support mechanisms for verified distress. For GDP-linked sukuk platforms, SCMS:

• Reinforces confidence in macro-adjusted cashflows through auditable behavioral records,
• Reduces execution uncertainty by standardizing triggers and evidence, and
• Supports resilience during economic stress without undermining market trust.

SCMS does not define macro indices; rather, it strengthens accountability, transparency, and orderly execution around macro-linked instruments.

Smart Voucher (Patented): Programmable Distribution and Inclusion
Smart Voucher enables controlled-purpose spending, targeted value distribution, and fully traceable disbursement pathways. Within GDP-linked sukuk and inflation-aware ecosystems, it:

• Supports automated and auditable payout and reporting flows,
• Enables policy-aligned interventions and benefit calibration, and
• Provides a programmable environment where inflation-aware rules can be executed transparently.

Smart Voucher strengthens programmable distribution and operational credibility in macro-linked token markets.

SSS (Patent Pending): A Stability Layer for Tokenized Sukuk Markets
The Smart Stabilization System introduces rules-based market-stabilization controls to help reduce destabilizing volatility in tokenized secondary markets. For GDP-linked and inflation-sensitive instruments, SSS:

• Mitigates short-term market overshooting and speculative swings,
• Improves market confidence and regulatory readiness, and
• Supports orderly trading during macro-data events.

SSS helps ensure that macro-linked token markets behave like credible capital-market environments rather than speculative venues.

In tokenized finance, building an effective inflation-tracking ecosystem goes beyond simple data feeds. It requires secure data ingestion, robust governance frameworks, transparent audit trails, and automated workflows that comply with Shariah and regulatory standards. These elements ensure that inflation-sensitive instruments operate with integrity and predictability. A clearer way to frame the ecosystem is to separate:

• the data/reference layer (how inflation indicators are constructed, validated, governed, revised, and audited), and
• the execution and market layer (how those indicators are used in smart contracts, reporting, distributions, and trading venues).

Blockchain-based tools can strengthen the data/reference layer by enabling higher-frequency indicators, multi-source cross-checking, and transparent, auditable governance over how data is selected and updated. For example, Truflation can be referenced as a higher-frequency CPI/inflation signal with a published methodology, while adoption indices (e.g., Chainalysis) and perception surveys (e.g., Consensys) can add contextual market intelligence - without being treated as official macro statistics. Finally, Snapshot-style DAO governance is best used to manage data-source trust, update/approval rules, and fallback mechanisms for disruptions or revisions, rather than to produce macro indicators itself. Within such architectures, IsDBI’s innovative solutions add critical operational strength.

Our growing understanding of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) has transformed how global markets perceive business value. In tandem, though not necessarily in lockstep, the Islamic economy, too, has flourished into a multi-trillion dollar ecosystem that extends far beyond traditional Muslim regions. 

While these two behemoths have historically been viewed as separate, they are beginning to converge, and this has helped ESG gain momentum as investors and regulators tackle urgent issues such as climate change, social inequality and governance failures.

The intersection of these frameworks is attracting a global audience eager for a brand of finance that is focused on long-term well-being rather than short-term gains.

Islamic ethics and sustainability
Shariah law prohibits exploitative interest and practices that can harm individuals or society. It promotes principles like risk-sharing, fairness, transparency and genuine economic activity. 

As highlighted in financial economist Kabir Hassan’s research on Islamic finance and sustainable development, these principles foster an economic vision focused on justice and community welfare. 

Just like ESG’s environmental criteria strive to protect our planet, Islamic principles actively discourage waste, pollution and anything that threatens long-term ecological balance. Furthermore, ESG’s social criteria focus on inclusion, fair treatment and community benefits aligns perfectly with Islamic values of fairness and mutual responsibility. When it comes to governance, the emphasis is on accountability, transparency, and ethical leadership; these too are principles that are central to Islamic decision-making.

The CFA Institute has even referred to Islamic finance as an 'ethical bridge' that connects traditional responsible investing with Shariah-oriented expectations. 

Markets showing rapid convergence
Recent Islamic Finance Development reports highlight a significant increase in sustainability-linked Islamic instruments, especially green and social sukuk, enabling governments and corporations to raise funds for renewable energy projects, social housing, sustainable transport and other initiatives, whilst adhering to Shariah compliance. 

Countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and the UAE are leading the way in this area. The World Bank’s research on Islamic green finance highlights how these markets have built the necessary ecosystem, regulations and investor confidence to issue substantial amounts of ESG sukuk. Their experiences demonstrate that Islamic finance can serve as a powerful catalyst for climate action and social development. 

Guidance from the Islamic Development Bank, the London Stock Exchange Group and the International Capital Market Association has paved the way for structuring green, social and sustainability sukuk. The Islamic Development Bank has also introduced its own Sustainable Finance Framework, demonstrating how Islamic institutions can integrate ESG thinking into Shariah-based mandates while ensuring tangible impact. 

Beyond sukuk, the integration of ESG is also making significant strides in Islamic asset management and Takaful as well. Recent studies on Islamic investment screening reveal a growing trend among asset managers to blend ESG metrics alongside traditional Shariah screening. 

Challenges to overcome
One major concern to consider, however, is that of greenwashing and superficial implementation. Some Islamic financial products have faced criticism for mimicking conventional instruments without genuinely fulfilling Shariah objectives. 

Another challenge we face is standardization. ESG frameworks vary across regions and merging them with Shariah requirements can lead to confusion. Additionally, reporting frameworks and impact measurement tools differ in their maturity. 

The World Bank and Islamic Development Bank’s climate finance analysis indicates that many Islamic markets still lack the institutional capacity to properly assess environmental performance or track emissions. Without reliable and consistent data, investors find it tough to evaluate the true impact of their investments. 

A landscape of opportunity 
Despite these challenges, however, the opportunities outweigh the obstacles. The Islamic economy’s focus on ethical trade, social justice and environmental stewardship lays a solid groundwork for a future driven by sustainability. Data from a joint report produced by the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector and the London Stock Exchange Group indicates that investors are increasingly interested in products that align values with performance. 

In emerging markets, Islamic ESG instruments are seen as a way to draw in new capital for national development. Fintech innovations are bridging gaps in transparency, access and compliance. Plus, the philosophical connection between ESG and Maqasid al Shariah hints at long-term synergy rather than just a passing trend. 

As global stakeholders look for financial models that safeguard both people and the planet, the Islamic economy stands out as a valuable contributor. This isn’t just a strategic opportunity; it is also a true reflection of Shariah’s goals, echoing the Qur’anic call for justice and moral responsibility. 

A relationship with long-term promise 
The relationship between ESG and the Islamic finance is still evolving, but the outlook is promising. It reflects a wider shift in global finance towards purpose and accountability.

By embracing this connection, the Islamic economy can pave the way for a financial future grounded in shared prosperity and sustainability. 

Islamic finance has segued from a once-nuanced offering into the mainstream, helping unlock access and encourage inclusion for more than two billion Muslims the world over. 

Islamic fintech, in particular, holds tremendous potential and ability to draw a vast majority of Muslims into the financial ecosystem, all while spurring innovative business models and unlocking new revenue streams. 

Leveraging innovations such as open banking not only helps create new retail offerings such as mobile apps for Zakat calculations, Waqf management and inheritance planning, but also help broaden the product gamut for corporate transactions and business banking. 

“Islamic financial solutions today require three capabilities: accuracy in Shariah classification, real-time validation of customer profiles, and seamless integration with banks and Shariah auditors," Faysal Ghauri, founder and CEO of Halal Payments Network, tells Salaam Gateway. 

"Open banking enables this by automatically mapping all customer bank assets; screening financial activities; creating digital Islamic marketplaces that connect banks, Takaful operators, Islamic wealth advisory firms and regulatory bodies; and powering Islamic financing models using transparent API integration with core banking and treasury systems.” 

Open banking enables authorized third-party providers to access customer data in a secure and standardized format, through application programming interfaces (APIs). 

Islamic fintechs could use open banking and APIs to integrate with Islamic lenders, melding the robustness and legitimacy of banks with the agility and ingenuity of emerging tech.  

“Open banking is not only about digital access to financial data. Its real value lies in how Islamic fintech can use this access to embed Shariah principles in digital services. With secure APIs, Islamic fintechs can deliver financial products in a structured, compliant, and digitally measurable way,” adds Ghauri.

Broadering the product portfolio   
The merits of open banking are visible in its ability to integrate Islamic profit-loss-sharing (PLS) products such as Musharakah and Mudarabah with innovative software that could ease accounting and cash flow management for lenders.

Mudarabah is a profit-and-loss arrangement whereby the investor provides the capital, and the entrepreneur runs the business, with profits shared according to pre-agreed ratios and losses borne solely by the financier. In Musharakah, all parties contribute capital and share profits and losses. 

Banks gravitate towards Ijarah (rent-based contracts) and Murabahah (purchase-based contracts) primarily due to the high degree of monitoring required for contracts such as Musharakah and Mudarabah. Lenders, in general, find it tedious to maintain consistent oversight to gauge performance markers of a business.   

Islamic fintech can help bridge the gap by connecting business financing with cash flow management software, enabling real-time monitoring of a business’s performance, expenses and cash flows – the degree of oversight necessary for the implementation of profit and loss contracts. 

“Historically, when Islamic banks wanted to do more Musharakah and Mudarabah, the combination of information asymmetry, monitoring cost and accounting complexity has made them look 'messy' on the balance sheet compared with Murabahah and Ijarah. Some complained that profit–loss sharing financing can drag on headline profitability metrics, which naturally pushes management back towards debt-like contracts,” Najmul Haque Kawsar, senior consultant at DinarStandard, tells Salaam Gateway. 

“Open banking and API-first architectures change that equation: they turn what used to be opaque, manually monitored PLS exposures into data-rich, continuously observed relationships that can be priced, monitored and reported almost like traded assets.”

Growing trend
The trend is visible - Fintech platform Tarabut partnered with Saudi Arabia’s payment solutions provider Geidea to explore flexible financing solutions to shed barriers such as protracted approval processes or complex credit checks. Bahrain Islamic Bank also inked an agreement with Tarabut to develop a financing solution that helps SMEs and corporates access funding based on their daily point-of-sale transactions.

“Conceptually, that is exactly the type of data backbone a Musharakah working-capital facility would need: the bank’s profit share can be linked to actual turnover and margin patterns, and covenants can be automated around drops in sales, chargebacks or average ticket size,” adds Kawsar.

“Instead of sending auditors into the business once a year, the bank and fintech can watch the health of the venture in real time, making it far more practical to structure the exposure as genuine risk sharing rather than synthetic debt.” 

Modern banking platforms like Mambu and Tuum are offering modules for Islamic funding - such as Mudarabah and financing - such as Murabaha and Tawarruq (sale and resale transaction), deploying APIs and tools to launch Shariah-compliant accounts, loans and investment products.

Tuum’s cloud-native suite also automates Islamic profit-sharing and Tawarruq contracts to enable real-time compliance with AAOIFI standards. 

“For an Islamic bank, that means you no longer need a bespoke back-office for every PLS product; Musharakah or Mudarabah structures can sit on standardised modules, with APIs exposing profit rates, accrued shares and pool performance into mobile apps, treasury systems and even third-party wealth platforms,” adds Kawsar. 
 

Remittances are among the most important financial lifelines for developing economies. Not only are they vital for household incomes, but also for macro-economic stability, serving as a major source of foreign exchange and often outweighing foreign direct investment or development aid. According to the World Bank’s Migration & Development Brief (June 2024), remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries reached $647 billion in 2023 and as per the most recent estimates, increased to $685 billion in 2024.

The difficulty of measuring remittances

Measuring remittances remains a major challenge because much of the money moves through informal or hard-to-track channels. Official data typically record only a fraction of total transfers, as reliable and timely reporting systems are still limited. In most countries, the responsibility for collecting and publishing official remittance data is defined by national law and typically lies with the central bank. These figures are compiled as part of the Balance of Payments (BoP), with the central bank’s statistics division setting reporting rules for individuals, businesses, and financial institutions. To ensure accuracy and consistency, central banks collaborate closely with other government bodies involved in economic data, including national statistics offices, ministries of finance, and other relevant agencies and stakeholders.

However, central banks struggle to keep pace with rapid changes in financial markets — from new money transfer operators to digital platforms like mobile wallets, which complicate the process of updating reporting frameworks and harmonizing them with anti–money laundering and transaction reporting rules.

Adding to this complexity is the diversity of transfer methods: funds can move through formal systems, such as banks and licensed money transfer operators, or informal networks, including hawala, personal cash deliveries, and in-kind exchanges. This patchwork makes it difficult to accurately capture the true scale of remittance flows, especially in the least developed countries, where limited resources hinder the development of advanced monitoring systems.

Methodology behind using 2023 data 
In compiling the list, we kept our ranking firmly anchored in the 2023 calendar-year figures for a few important reasons. First, the World Bank provides a consistent and comparable dataset for that year, allowing apples-to-apples comparison across OIC nations. Second, while many countries now publish year-to-date or fiscal-year-to-date data for 2024, full-year 2024 figures are still being finalised, meaning there is potential for revision or inconsistency. Third, in some regions—such as the Middle East and North Africa—the World Bank itself has flagged that 2023 flows were under-recorded due to parallel foreign exchange markets and informal channels, meaning 2023 remains the latest robust benchmark. 

When presenting the ranking, keep in mind that the figures provided are estimates and represent a trend. According to the World Bank brief, remittances to South Asia are expected to grow by 11.8% in 2024, driven by countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh. 

The following ranking identifies the Top 10 OIC remittance-recipient countries by volume, based on the most reliable data for the calendar year 2023, and it also shows the emerging trend for 2024.

1. Pakistan — $27.0 billion 
Pakistan remains the largest remittance recipient among OIC nations in terms of volume, as highlighted in the World Bank’s Migration & Development Brief 40. Flows mainly originate from Pakistani workers in the Gulf region, the UK, and North America. The remittances were further expected to increase to $28 billion in 2024. 

2. Egypt — $24.0 billion 
Egypt remains the top recipient in the Arab region, according to the World Bank’s December 2023 brief. However, the Bank warned that official 2023 inflows may be underreported due to informal foreign exchange channels. The 2024 estimate/partial data places expected remittances for 2024 at approximately $22.7 billion, according to World Bank data published in June 2025.

3. Bangladesh — $23.0 billion 
While Bangladesh’s final 2023 figure is still subject to revision, the World Bank projected around $23 billion in remittances for that year. The flows are driven largely by Bangladeshi workers in the Gulf and Southeast Asia. 

4. Nigeria — $19.5 billion
Nigeria tops remittance inflows in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the country press, citing the World Bank. The Nigerian diaspora in Europe and North America provides a substantial share of foreign receipts.  The 2024 estimate/partial data places expected remittances for 2024, show a modest growth forecast for expected remittances in 2024, aligning with global trends. However, no full-year national figure has been published yet.

5. Uzbekistan — $16.1 billion 
Remittances to Uzbekistan remain high, largely from workers in Russia and Central Asia. The 2023 estimate was about $16.1 billion. The 2024 estimate/partial data suggest that expected remittances for 2024 are expected to stabilize or mildly recover; however, full-year data have not yet been published.

6. Indonesia — $14.47 billion
Indonesia’s remittance inflows reflect millions of migrant workers across Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and Taiwan. The World Bank’s WDI dataset shows approximately $14.5 billion for 2023; some sources project more than $16 billion for 2024.

7. Morocco — $11.8 billion
Morocco remains the second-largest remittance recipient in North Africa after Egypt, with major flows from Moroccans working in France, Spain, and Belgium. There is no 2024 estimate/partial data as a complete full-year figure has not been made public yet.

8. Lebanon — $6.7 billion
Despite its economic crisis, Lebanon’s remittances remain substantial, representing more than 30% of its GDP.  For 2024, anecdotal data suggest strong flows via the Lebanese diaspora, but no consistent national full-year figure has yet been published.

9. Jordan — $4.48 billion
Jordan receives significant remittances from its citizens abroad, particularly in the Gulf and the United States. However, no full-year 2024 figure has been published yet.

10. Tunisia — $2.87 billion
Rounding out the top ten is Tunisia, with remittances largely from Tunisians in France, Italy, and Germany. These flows often exceed tourism receipts in years of economic instability.