High growth potential for Thailand’s halal food industry as exports to Islamic nations keep growing

TPSO Poonpong Naiyanapakorn said Thailand exported halal foods worth US$4.681 billion to the 57 member nations of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) during the first nine months of this year. The value rose by 64.65% from the same period last year, Poonpong said.

In 2014, the value of halal food exports to the 57 OIC nations was US$4.188 billion, an increase of 4.12% from the previous year, Poonpong added. The value of halal food exports was 12.13% of the overall food export value.

The top five halal food categories exported to the 57 OIC nations in 2014 were:

- Cereals worth $1.063 billion

- Food mixtures (preparations) made from meat, fish, and marine sources $619.36 million

- Sugar and sweets $522.53 million

- Food mixtures (preparations) made from cereal, flour and milk $330.17 million

- Miscellaneous foods mixtures (preparations) $260.05 million

Poonpong said the top five OIC nations that imported halal foods from Thailand in 2014 were:

- Malaysia $1.193 billion

- Indonesia $885.77 million

- United Arab Emirates $228.64 million

- Egypt $225.18 million

- Yemen $165 million.

Apart from exports, Thailand could also earn a lot of income from selling halal foods to visiting Muslim tourists, Poonpong said.

He said the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2022 made by the Mastercard-Crescent Rating reported that Thailand was ranked the third most popular destination for Muslim tourists after Singapore and Taiwan.

The ranking improved from fourth spot in the 2021 ratings, Poonpong added.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the statistics from the Tourism and Sports Ministry showed that of the 57 OIC nations, the highest number of travellers to Thailand came from Malaysia.

In 2019, 4.272 million Malaysian tourists visited Thailand and during the first 10 months of this year, 1.291 million tourists from the neighbouring country visited, followed by Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

Poonpong added that the halal food industry has a bright future because of the large Muslim population worldwide and in Thailand.

He said statistics from the Pew Research Centre showed that world Muslim population was 1.9 billion, or 23.54% of world population.

Indonesia has the biggest Muslim population of 229 million, followed by Pakistan (200 million), India (195 million), Bangladesh (154 million) and Nigeria (99 million).

In Thailand, figures from the National Statistical Office of Thailand showed that there are 3.639 million Thai Muslims, or 5.4% of Thai population.

“Islam is the second most-practised religion in Thailand after Buddhism, so the Muslim consumer market is large with a lot of potential. Moreover, Muslims have a tendency to constantly spend [on halal foods],” Poonpong said.