UK: Halal consumption increasingly crucial to UK sheep industry

By Jack Yates – Farmers Weekly

Halal lamb and mutton sales will be increasingly important to the UK sheep market as the country’s Muslim AHDB-beef-lambpopulation rises.

Sheepmeat retail sales have fallen by a third in 10 years according to a report by AHDB Beef & Lamb.

Muslims account for more than 20% of UK sheepmeat consumption (24% of lamb and 16% of mutton) despite making up just 4.6% of the population.

While the UK population has increased 3% since 2011, conservative estimates indicate the Muslim population has risen 5.6% in the same period to more than three million people, helping to slow the decline in sheepmeat sales.