How popular is Islamic finance in the USA? Findings from Google Trends

Abstract

Islamic finance is a growing industry with global distribution in all continents including Europe and America. The aim of the current study was to examine how popular is Islamic finance in the USA during the period 2014-2019 using Google Trends. In addition, the interest in Islamic finance across different US states was also investigated. Using “Islamic finance” and “Islamic bank” as search terms in Goggle Trends, the trend curve showed decreases in search volumes, suggesting a decline in the popularity of Islamic finance in the USA with years. Search volumes were detected in seven out of 50 states, suggesting low interest in Islamic finance in the majority of US states. The order of the popularity in the seven states was: Virginia > New York > New Jersey > Illinois > Texas > California > Pennsylvania > Georgia > Florida > Massachusetts. Longitudinal survey studies are needed to confirm the present findings.