The purpose of the Global Islamic Economy Indicator (GIEI) 2016/2017 is to show the current health and development of the Islamic Economy ecosystem (Halal Food, Islamic Finance, Halal Travel, Modest Fashion, Halal Media and Recreation, and Halal Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics).
The indicator does not focus on the overall size and growth trajectory of a country across the Islamic Economy sectors; instead it evaluates them on relative strengths of the ecosystem they have to support the development of the Islamic Economy.
The GIEI is a composite weighted index comprised of six sector-level indicators across 73 core countries. The ranking is weighted towards Islamic Finance and Halal Food given that their economic impact is comparatively larger than other sectors.
In this particular sector, few Southeast Asian nations really championing several indexes which came as no surprise to Seasia.
Below are the top 15 countries in the GIE indicator as well as for individual Islamic Economy sectors:
| RANK | COUNTRY | GIE INDICATOR SCORE |
| 1 | MALAYSIA | 121 |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates | 86 |
| 3 | Bahrain | 66 |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia | 63 |
| 5 | Oman | 48 |
| 6 | Pakistan | 45 |
| 7 | Kuwait | 44 |
| 8 | Qatar | 43 |
| 9 | Jordan | 37 |
| 10 | INDONESIA | 36 |
| 11 | SINGAPORE | 32 |
| 12 | BRUNEI | 32 |
| 13 | Sudan | 28 |
| 14 | Iran | 28 |
| 15 | Bangladesh | 26 |
Among other categories or indexes that highlighted Southeast Asian nations' score are as following details:
TOP 10 ISLAMIC FINANCE
The Islamic Finance sector has shown robust growth and increasing sophistication.
This has been coupled by the emergence of crowdfunding platforms, such as Human Crescent and a greater push towards social impact investing with the launch in Dubai of the Mohammed bin Rashid Global Center for Endowment Consultancy (MBRGCEC).
While the sector has been held back by a lack of awareness of Islamic Finance product offerings, there is considerable opportunity in particular in the Awqaf and Crowdfunding sectors, with the sector expected to reach $3.5 trillion by 2021.
| Countries | Rank | Score |
| MALAYSIA | 1 | 189 |
| UAE | 2 | 92 |
| Bahrain | 3 | 90 |
| Saudi Arabia | 4 | 83 |
| Oman | 5 | 51 |
| Kuwait | 6 | 51 |
| Pakistan | 7 | 47 |
| Qatar | 8 | 47 |
| INDONESIA | 9 | 38 |
| Jordan | 10 | 35 |
T0P 10 HALAL TRAVEL
Halal Travel continues to broaden its reach with tremendous growth in Halal beach resorts, the launch of several dedicated airlines and the launch of the Muslim answer to Airbnb, Bookhalalhomes, and TripAdvisor, Tripfez.
While Halal Travel is a niche sector building momentum, the sector is expected to undergo rapid growth, with Muslim spend on outbound travel expected to reach $243 billion by 2021.
| Countries | Rank | Score |
| UAE | 1 | 81 |
| MALAYSIA | 2 | 70 |
| Turkey | 3 | - |
| SINGAPORE | 4 | 44 |
| Jordan | 5 | 39 |
| Maldives | 6 | - |
| Iran | 7 | 36 |
| Lebanon | 8 | - |
| Oman | 9 | 36 |
| Saudi Arabia | 10 | 35 |
TOP 10 HALAL PHARMACEUTICALS AND COSMETICS
The Halal Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics sector continues to expand as awareness about ingredients rises fostering new product developments, such as permeable nail polish, the development of Halal vaccines and new ranges of nutraceuticals.
With increasing certification activity in the sector, and as more mainstream players provide Halal products, Muslim spend on pharmaceuticals and cosmetics products is expected to reach $213 billion by 2021 in aggregate.
| COUNTRIES | RANK | SCORE |
| UAE | 1 | 78 |
| MALAYSIA | 2 | 61 |
| SINGAPORE | 3 | 56 |
| Egypt | 4 | - |
| Pakistan | 5 | 52 |
| Jordan | 6 | 49 |
| Saudi Arabia | 7 | 48 |
| INDONESIA | 8 | 41 |
| Oman | 9 | 40 |
| BRUNEI | 10 | 39 |
Following are key methodology highlights:
↘ A total of 73 countries were evaluated which included 57 OIC and 16 non-OIC countries
↘ To evaluate the health of the GIE ecosystem per country, each sector was evaluated based on the following key metric categories, which were equally weighted: 1) supply/demand drivers relative to country size, 2) governance, 3) awareness, and 4) social considerations. (The governance criteria did not apply to Fashion and Halal Media and Recreation sectors.) A total of 49 metrics were utilized.
↘ The aggregate indicator and overall rank is weighted to each sector’s proportional economic size (Islamic Finance and Halal Food are weighted heavily in the ranking given their relative sizes: 46 percent and 35 percent respectively)
Source : Thomson Reuters Official Website
