SHAFAQNA- Commissioned by the Government of Dubai and produced by ThomsonReuters in collaboration with strategy and research advisory firm DinarStandard, the report says that the past year has seen major advancements in the global Halal food and lifestyle sectors. These include investments by a Brazilian Halal food provider in a UAE production plant, and new Halal testing technologies from France, Malaysia and the UAE.
At the same time, the Halal tourism sector, a huge driver of food, beverage and hospitality sales, has also advanced following product investments in the UAE, the Maldives, Spain, Japan, the Philippines and Russia, amongst others. The lucrative Halal tourism market now represents 11.6 percent of global tourism expenditure, excluding the busy Hajj and Umrah seasons, and is expected to be worth US$238 billion by 2019.
According to the report, the Halal food sector alone will grow to a valuation of US$2.537 trillion by 2019, up from US$795 billion in 2014, equating to 21.2 percent of global food expenditure. The top countries with Muslim consumer food consumption are Indonesia, with a market worth US$190 billion, Turkey, where the market is valued at US$168 billion, Pakistan at US$108 billion and Iran, where the market equates to US$97 billion based on 2013 data.
Meanwhile, Malaysia, the UAE and Australia lead the report’s Halal Food Indicator, a gauge that focuses on the health of the country’s Halal Food ecosystem in relation to its size.