How Muslim Lifestyles Create Enormous Economic Opportunities for the UK

The United Kingdom’s tryst with secularism began in the 1960’s when a discursive shift in language came about. Media and policy circles began to remove religion and its influence on economics and social life and creators of national discourse often shied away from how important it was to the average citizen in the UK. This emerged under the assumption that most people would increasingly become a-religious over time leading to the development of public policy that often ignored religious sentiments and undercurrents.

However, despite this wilful avoidance of religion in policy making procedures, growing evidence from the Muslim community for instance, demonstrates that the government cannot afford to ignore religious lifestyles while making policy. Given that Islamic practice is at the core of many aspects of daily living for  most British Muslims, several industries have emerged which present opportunities for the UK government to tap into.

Take Muslim communities’ adoption of what is termed as the Halal lifestyle. Eating meat prepared in accordance with Muslim practices (similar to Kosher meat) has led to the development of a £1.7-billion- industry, which is a significant proportion of  the £11 billion meat market in the country. In other words, nationally, 6.5% of the population commands around 15% of the UK’s meat industry.

Yet, Halal requirements apply to more than just meat. Muslim women often opt for modest wear options as well as cosmetics which have certain guidelines (avoidance of pork and alcohol in its ingredients etc.) which has also created thriving markets. Indeed,  the global market for modest wear and Halal cosmetics is worth close to half a trillion dollars. In the UK, this has led to global brands such as Nike, ASOS and others to diversify their range, alongside a new class of Muslim entrepreneurs and influencers who have started new Halal brands, demonstrating the immense potential of such products. The mushrooming of such businesses have generated a new style of business exhibitions such as the London Halal expo that engaged over 300 different businesses, the Muslim Tech Fest (with over 1000 participants) and the World Halal food festival which draws crowds of thousands.

The other prominent development  is the growth of the Islamic Finance Industry. Due to Muslims having a religious duty to avoid all forms of interest-based financing, Muslims have often tried to generate alternatives to traditional banking systems. This has led to a thriving Islamic global finance industry generating more than 3 to 4 trillion dollars. While the UK Islamic finance industry forms a sliver of this huge number, it does hold 8 billion dollars’ worth of assets via both Islamic and conventional banks with numbers projected to reach £15 billion. This makes the UK home to the largest Islamic finance industry in  Europe, further highlighting that Islamic lifestyles are economically beneficial to  the British economy and society.

Owing to the strong development of Muslim establishments, halal food and places of worship across the UK, an unintended positive consequence has been the UK’s attractiveness as a place for Muslim tourists to visit. In consecutive years, globally, the UK has now been rated the second most attractive non-Muslim country for Muslims to visit (after Singapore). Most tourists especially from Arab nations enjoy the UK’s weather (particularly in summer) and find it easy to navigate when searching for Halal food and places of worship. This is not limited to London alone but also cities like Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow and many others. Indeed, these factors have partially resulted in the UK attracting strong financial investments from Arab and Muslim majority nations like the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia which have invested in iconic buildings like the Shard in London and in football teams like Manchester City, among others.

The UK government should recognise that Muslim lifestyles generate significant real and potential opportunities which amount to billions in revenue for the UK. These ventures need to be nurtured, incentivised and invested in, to ensure that we maximise the potential of entrepreneurs who can draw in global investments into the UK, helping strengthen its economy.