British-Muslims contribute GBP 31 bn to economy

LONDON: Nearly 2.8 million Muslims in the UK contribute over 31 billion pounds to its economy and wield a spending power of 20.5 billion pounds, a report said today.

From coffee houses in Elizabethan London, to curry houses in modern day Britain, thousands of Muslim-owned businesses have made a significant contribution to the UK economy and by extension, the cultural life of Britain, a paper from the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said.

There are some 2.78 million Muslims in Britain, contributing over 31 billion pounds to the economy, the report said. There is an estimated 10,000 Muslim millionaires in the UK with liquid assets of more than 3.6 billion pounds, with more than a dozen British Muslims listed in the 2013 Sunday Times Rich List of the most affluent in the UK.

In London alone, there are over 13,400 Muslim-owned businesses in London creating more than 70,000 jobs, the paper said.

The report was published to highlight Muslims' growing contribution to the UK and to mark the 9th World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) coming to London this week, the online portal Huffington Post UK reported.

The MCB report comes as Prime Minister David Cameron is set to unveil a new Islamic index on the London Stock Exchange. The move marks the capital's significance as a global centre for Islamic finance, which is expected to be worth 1.3 trillion pounds next year.

The city will be the first non-Muslim city to host the World Islamic Economic Forum.

"I welcome the effort of the British Muslim community in bringing the World Islamic Economic Forum to London. My team have worked with the Muslim Council of Britain to bring this Forum to London, who has been a key delegation at World Islamic Economic Forum since its inception," said London's Mayor Boris Johnson.

The MCB is a national representative Muslim umbrella body with over 300 affiliated national, regional and local organisations, mosques, charities and schools.