Here comes the sun

By Data team

RAMADAN, the Muslim holy month of fasting and celebration, begins today. It requires devout believers to forgo food and drink, along with other activities such as smoking and gum-chewing, during daylight hours. But for the world’s 1.57 billion Muslims spread across more than 200 countries, what constitutes daylight hours varies greatly. Among the ten countries with the largest Muslim populations, which are together home to almost 70% of the world’s Muslims, Turkey presents the biggest challenge for fasters, with 15 hours of daylight before they can break their fast at 8.20pm. Compare that to Indonesia, home to 209m Muslims—the biggest Muslim population globally—who end their near-12-hour fast just before 6pm.

For Muslims living in western Europe, the gap between breakfast and dinner is even longer, with Swedish Muslims subject to nearly 19 hours of fasting. Those observing Ramadan in Iceland—home to around 1,000 Muslims—are theoretically required to fast for almost 22 hours, thanks to the country's near-permanent daylight in June. The economic effects of Ramadan are mixed. In majority Muslim countries such as Egypt, a month of workers operating on low fuel comes at a cost to productivity, and many companies shorten workdays to accommodate flagging energy levels. But there is also an increase in consumer spending, as Muslims spend more on food and drink to celebrate breaking the fast in the evening, and splash out on gifts and other festivities for Eid al-Fitr, the celebration that marks the end of Ramadan.