5 Most Powerful Islamic Countries in the World in 2024

1. Turkey

Economic Strength Rank: 2

Military Strength Rank: 8

Weighted Average Rank: 3.8

With a weighted average rank of 5.2, Turkey is the most powerful Islamic country in the world in 2024. Turkey’s defense industry has seen incredible growth, which truly began after the 1974 Cyprus intervention and led to embargoes from the US and other allies. These restrictions spurred Turkey to invest heavily in domestic defense production. From 1996 to 2021, Turkiye had a change of defense spending as a percentage of GDP of 2.1%, which translated to major achievements like the Altay tank in 2008, the T129 helicopter in 2014, and the renowned Bayraktar TB-2 drone in 2011. It is also worth highlighting that Turkey’s defense exports nearly tripled from 2014 to 2023. The country’s defense industry now ranks 11th globally in exports, just outside the top 10.

On the economic end, in the first quarter of 2024, Turkey’s GDP grew by 5.7% year-on-year, driven by strong domestic demand and net exports. Private consumption, though at its lowest since the pandemic, grew by 7.2% YoY. Investment increased by 10.3% YoY, adding 2.6 ppt, while public consumption rose 3.9% YoY, contributing 0.5 ppt. Despite inventory build-up reducing growth by 4.4 ppt, net exports improved GDP by 1.6 ppt.

To learn about other top powerful Islamic countries, you can check out our detailed report 15 Most Powerful Islamic Countries in the World in 2024. At Insider Monkey, we delve into a variety of topics, ranging from powerful economies to business aspects; however, our expertise lies in identifying the top-performing stocks. Currently, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology stands out as one of the most promising fields. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NVDA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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