Türkiye, Indonesia, Malaysia Among Top 20 Halal Economy Exporters

Türkiye among the top 3 Islamic higher education markets besides making it to the top 5 nations in intra-OIC halal trading activity

According to a report issued on Tuesday by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Turkey is one of just three OIC members to rank among the top 20 exporters of goods for the halal market.

The 2022 Annual OIC Halal Economy Report listed Indonesia and Malaysia as the other two countries in the 57-member Muslim bloc that fall under this heading.

On the occasion of the 38th meeting of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation, which lasted four days, the report was released in Istanbul (COMCEC).

The Islamic Center for Development of Trade (ICDT) commissioned the analysis, which claimed that the OIC members had a $63 billion trade deficit for Halal goods in 2017.

It stated that the $275 billion in exports and $338 billion in imports were for goods including food, clothing, medicine, and cosmetics.

Only three OIC nations (Turkey, Indonesia, and Malaysia) made it to the top 20 exporters of Halal economy products, according to the study, which was produced by US-based market research and consultancy firm DinarStandard. “Only 18% of these imports were sourced intra-OIC,” the report stated.

Türkiye among the top 3 markets in Islamic higher education

ICDT Director General Latifa el Bouabdellaoui said the report aims to “inspire and empower OIC countries to act cohesively, promote inclusive growth and increase the OIC’s share in the halal trade and investments ecosystem with integrity and purpose.”

The report showed that OIC members exported apparel and footwear products amounting to $101.94 billion last year, while the Muslim bloc imported the bulk of food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.

Türkiye, along with Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, is among the top three markets in Islamic higher education, which the report said: “is essential to educate industry and halal supply chain players.”

“Muslim consumers from the OIC countries spent $15 billion on tertiary education last year,” the report said.

“Driving OIC member countries’ opportunity in halal trade and investments is its halal lifestyle consumer demand ($1.7 trillion in 2021) representing 79% of the global spending ($2.1 trillion).”

It added that the Muslim bloc is expected to spend $1.5 trillion on food consumption by 2026.

“This presents a strong window of opportunity for (the) OIC countries to ramp up production, leverage growing consumer demand for healthy and organic food products, and adopt digitalization across the industry,” the report suggested.

Muslim bloc spent $141 billion on media and recreation

While the Islamic finance assets amounted to $3.32 trillion in 2020, the report said the OIC members made up six of the top 10 global markets for Muslim consumers spending on media and recreation last year.

Muslim consumers from the OIC countries spent an estimated $141 billion on media and recreation, which is expected to reach $211 billion by 2026, it said.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic having a big impact on travel, the report said Muslim travelers from the OIC nations spent a total of $86 billion last year.

Türkiye has also made it to the top five Muslim nations in the OIC Halal Economy Trade and Investment Index, which ranks member nations’ global and intra-OIC trading activity in halal-related sectors.

The index comprises 61 metrics organized into five components for each of the eight sectors of the Islamic economy, including Islamic finance, halal food, Muslim-friendly travel, modest fashion, media/recreation, halal pharmaceuticals, halal cosmetics, and tertiary education.

The report recommends the OIC member states 20 actionable strategies to explore and implement, including national economic resilience building, intra-OIC/south-south cooperation, halal economy promotion and awareness, investment attraction and facilitation, and research and innovation with a focus on emerging technologies and capacity building.