High growth potential for Thailand’s halal food industry

Thailand’s halal food industry has a bright future with rising value of export to Muslim nations and the increasing number of Muslim tourists visiting the country, the Trade Policy and Strategy Office said on Thursday.

TPSO PoonpongNaiyanapakorn said Thailand exported halal foods worth US$4.681 billion to the 57 member nations of the Organization 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.

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

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.