Mubasher: The member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have registered a trade deficit of $63 billion for halal economy products in 2021, according to the 2022 Annual OIC Halal Economy Report.

Last year, total halal product exports of OIC member nations amounted to $275 billion while imports totaled $338 billion. Only 18% of these imports were sourced intra-OIC, while only three OIC countries, namely Türkiye, Indonesia, and Malaysia made it to the top 20 exporters of halal economy products.

The halal economy products cover food, fashion, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.

The report, commissioned by the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) and produced by DinarStandard, a US-based research and advisory firm, was launched in Istanbul on 29 November 2022 at an event.

“With this report, we aim 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”, said Latifa El Bouabdellaoui, Director General of the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT).

While OIC countries were import reliant for the food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics sectors, they were net exporters of apparel and footwear products, having exported products worth $101.94 billion in 2021, while imports reached $34.96 billion, resulting in a positive trade balance of $66.98 billion.

In terms of investments, OIC member states received a total of 180 investments across the eight sectors of the halal economy, with 120 disclosed deals worth $7.90 billion in 2021.  

The report incorporates an OIC Halal Economy Trade and Investment Index that ranks OIC member countries’ global and intra-OIC trading activity in halal-related sectors, as well as the country’s attractiveness to investors. The index comprises 61 metrics organised into five components for each of the eight sectors of the Islamic economy: Islamic finance, halal food, Muslim-friendly travel, modest fashion, media/recreation, halal pharmaceuticals, halal cosmetics, and tertiary education. The top five ranked countries in the index are Malaysia, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Bahrain.