RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has surpassed Malaysia as the world’s biggest issuer of sukuk and Islamic finance in 2021 for the first time since 2018, according to data from Bloomberg. For the 12 months period ending Dec. 31, 2021, the Kingdom issued sukuk and Islamic financing totaling over $32 billion, compared to around $26 billion in Malaysia. The surge is attributed to the government and corporate issuances increasing by 57 percent from 2020 and the Kingdom’s largest single sukuk issuance of $3 billion issued in October 2021. Green finance has also contributed to the rise in Saudi Arabia’s Islamic finance sector during 2021 with the $2.5 billion sustainability sukuk issued by the Islamic Development Bank. Additionally, the UAE rounded out the top 3 places with around $14 billion in total issuances.