US and International Meat Consumption Chart - Vegetarian

Vegetarian

ProCon.org is an independent, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity

Video introduction to ProCon.org and the pros and cons of controversial topics

Last updated on: 5/16/2012 4:25:56 PM PST

US and International Meat Consumption Chart

I.	Overview	*source: www.sciencephoto.com (accessed Apr. 11, 2012)*
II.	Per Capita Meat "Consumption" (lbs/person) in the United States, 1970-2009
III.	Ranking of 171 Countries by Per Capita Meat Consumption, 2005
IV.	Top Meat Consuming Countries, 2007
V.	Per Capita Beef, Chicken, and Pork Consumption of Major Import and Export Countries, 2010

I. Overview

According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Americans ate an average of 279.1 pounds of meat per person in 2005—154.1 pounds more than the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) recommended annual maximum of 125 pounds from the entire protein group, which includes meat, eggs, soy products, nuts, and seeds.

According to the FAO, the United States had the third largest per capita meat consumption (behind Luxembourg #1 and Hong Kong #2) out of 171 countries in 2005, and its citizens ate over 41 times more meat than Bangladesh, which ranked #171. The FAO states that "Evidence suggests that poor people, especially young children and their mothers in developing countries, are not consuming enough animal-based food… while other people, particularly in developed countries, are consuming too much.”

Americans eat more beef (37.8 lbs/person in 2009) than any other meat. However, USDA statistics show that beef consumption has declined 27% since 1970 (51.8 lbs/person in 1970) while the consumption of chicken has increased 104% from 15.8 lbs/person in 1970 to 32.3 lbs/person in 2009. Meat consumption data vary by reporting agency and even within agencies, so take the information with a grain of salt.

II. Per Capita Meat "Consumption" (lbs/person) in the United States, 1970-2009

The data below are from the USDA/Economic Research Service, www.ers.usda.gov, Feb. 1, 2011. The per capita meat "consumption" is measured in lbs/year and reflects the total amount of meat supply in the United States adjusted for loss. The USDA calculates "consumption" by dividing the total annual supply of a specific meat by the annual population and adjusting that figure for loss by subtracting 1) the estimated amount of meat lost when converting it from the farm to a market ready product, 2) the estimated amount of meat lost at the retail level due to spoilage, and 3) the estimated amount of meat lost when consumers cook it at home. The fish category includes both fresh and frozen fish.

Year	Beef	Lamb	Pork	Veal	Chicken	Turkey	Fish	Total Meat
1970	51.8	1.2	28.1	1.0	15.8	4.2	2.8	104.9
1971	51.5	1.2	30.9	0.9	15.8	4.3	2.6	110.2
1972	52.3	1.2	28.1	0.8	16.3	4.7	2.9	106.3
1973	49.4	1.0	25.2	0.6	15.6	4.4	3.2	99.4
1974	52.5	0.8	27.4	0.8	15.6	4.5	2.7	104.3
1975	54.1	0.7	22.4	1.4	15.2	4.3	3.1	101.2
1976	57.7	0.7	23.7	1.3	16.5	4.6	3.4	107.9
1977	56.2	0.6	24.7	1.3	16.7	4.5	3.1	107.1
1978	53.5	0.6	24.7	1.0	17.5	4.5	3.5	105.3
1979	47.8	0.5	28.3	0.7	18.9	4.8	3.4	104.4
1980	46.9	0.6	30.4	0.6	18.9	5.3	3.3	108.0
1981	47.3	0.6	29.1	0.7	19.4	5.5	3.0	105.6
1982	47.2	0.6	26.2	0.7	19.5	5.5	3.1	102.8
1983	48.2	0.6	27.7	0.7	19.6	5.7	3.3	105.8
1984	48.0	0.6	27.6	0.7	20.4	5.7	3.4	106.4
1985	48.5	0.6	27.8	0.7	21.0	6.0	3.8	108.4
1986	48.4	0.6	26.4	0.8	21.3	6.7	3.7	107.9
1987	45.2	0.5	26.6	0.6	22.7	7.6	4.2	107.4
1988	44.6	0.6	28.5	0.6	22.8	8.1	3.7	108.9
1989	42.4	0.6	28.2	0.5	23.3	8.6	4.0	107.6
1990	41.6	0.6	27.1	0.4	24.4	9.1	3.7	106.9
1991	40.9	0.6	27.3	0.4	25.4	9.2	3.6	107.4
1992	40.6	0.6	28.7	0.4	26.8	9.2	3.6	109.9
1993	39.7	0.5	28.3	0.4	27.7	9.1	3.8	109.5
1994	40.9	0.5	28.6	0.4	28.1	9.1	3.9	111.5
1995	41.3	0.5	28.2	0.4	27.8	9.1	3.8	111.1
1996	41.6	0.5	26.4	0.5	28.1	9.4	3.8	110.3
1997	40.7	0.4	26.1	0.4	28.8	8.9	3.6	108.9
1998	41.3	0.5	28.1	0.3	29.1	9.1	3.5	111.9
1999	41.8	0.5	28.8	0.3	30.9	9.1	3.5	114.9
2000	42.0	0.5	27.9	0.3	31.2	9.0	3.4	114.3
2001	41.0	0.5	27.4	0.2	31.1	9.1	3.5	112.8
2002	42.0	0.5	28.1	0.2	32.7	9.2	3.7	116.4
2003	40.3	0.5	28.3	0.2	33.2	9.0	3.5	115
2004	41.0	0.5	28.0	0.2	34.2	8.8	3.4	116.1
2005	40.6	0.4	27.2	0.2	34.9	8.6	3.7	115.6
2006	40.8	0.4	26.8	0.2	35.1	8.7	4.0	116.0
2007	40.4	0.5	27.5	0.2	34.5	9.0	4.0	116.1
2008	38.8	0.4	26.8	0.2	33.8	9.1	3.8	112.9
2009	37.8	0.4	27.2	0.2	32.3	8.7	3.8	110.4

III. Ranking of 171 Countries by Per Capita Meat Consumption (MC), 2005

The data below are from the FAO's 2009 report "The State of Food and Agriculture," available at www.fao.org. 169 of the 171 areas listed are countries. Hong Kong and Macao are special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China with separate governments. The FAO consumption data are based on food balance sheets for each country, which show the amount of meat available for human consumption added to the amount of meat imported into a country. From that total is subtracted the amount of meat exported, fed to livestock, used for seed, and lost during storage and transportation. That figure is then divided by the population.

MC = meat consumption measured in lbs/person/year

Country (by rank)

1	Luxembourg	314.6	58	Mainland China	131.2	115	Mali	49.4
2	Hong Kong	295.9	59	Panama	127.2	116	Egypt	49.2
3	United States	279.1	60	Latvia	126.8	117	Sudan	48.5
4	Australia	259.3	61	Kazakhstan	123.5	118	Bosnia and Herzgovina	47.8
5	Austria	240.5	62	Lebanon	120.2	119	Algeria	47.6
6	Spain	237.9	63	Saudi Arabia	120.2	120	Turkey	46.7
7	Cyprus	230.16	64	Russian Federation	114.9	121	Congo	46.3
8	New Zealand	229.3	65	Malaysia	113.1	122	Djibouti	46.1
9	Denmark	222.0	66	Bolivia	113.1	123	Nicaragua	44.8
10	Ireland	222.0	67	Bulgaria	112.9	124	Syria	43.0
11	Israel	219.8	68	Belize	108.5	125	Azerbaijan	42.8
12	Bahamas	217.8	69	Republic of Korea	107.8	126	Maldives	42.8
13	Macao	214.3	70	Dominican Republic	105.2	127	Angola	41.4
14	Canada	212.3	71	Ecuador	102.5	128	Laos	38.8
15	Netherlands Antilles	209.9	72	South Africa	101.9	129	Yemen	37.7
16	Slovenia	207.0	73	Japan	100.1	130	Lesotho	37.7
17	France	195.3	74	Suriname	100.1	131	Zimbabwe	37.3
18	Argentina	195.3	75	Turkmenistan	94.4	132	Cambodia	36.2
19	Saint Lucia	194.2	76	Mauritus	93.5	133	Burkina Faso	35.1
20	Italy	194.0	77	Trinidad and Tobago	92.2	134	Kenya	34.0
21	Czech Republic	190.9	78	Albania	90.2	135	People's Republic of China	32.2
22	Portugal	189.6	79	Costa Rica	87.1	136	Madagascar	31.3
23	Saint Kitts and Nevis	188.3	80	Croatia	85.8	137	Haiti	31.1
24	United Kingdom	185.0	81	Ukraine	85.1	138	Sao Tome and Principe	30.2
25	Iceland	184.5	82	Moldova	84.2	139	Afghanistan	30.0
26	Germany	183.6	83	Colombia	84.2	140	Cameroon	29.8
27	Belgium	181.7	84	Republic of Macedonia	83.6	141	Zambia	29.5
28	Malta	181.7	85	Guyana	81.4	142	Cote d'Ivoire	28.7
29	Serbia and Montenegro	180.8	86	Honduras	80.5	143	Guinea-Bissau	28.4
30	Brazil	178.1	87	Jordan	80.5	144	Chad	27.8
31	Greece	174.6	88	Kyrgyzstan	76.9	145	Senegal	27.3
32	Antigua and Barbuda	173.7	89	Vietnam	76.9	146	Benin	27.1
33	Taiwan	173.5	90	Timore-Leste	75.1	147	Pakistan	26.9
34	Netherlands	171.5	91	Cape Verde	74.3	148	Tajikistan	26.2
35	Sweden	170.0	92	Swaziland	71.9	149	Niger	25.1
36	Poland	169.3	93	Paraguay	71.2	150	Comoros	24.7
37	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	169.1	94	Mauritania	71.0	151	Ghana	23.4
38	Barbados	161.8	95	Cuba	69.7	152	Uganda	22.5
39	United Arab Emirates	159.6	96	Georgia	68.8	153	Indonesia	22.0
40	Switzerland	159.4	97	Central African Republic	68.3	154	Nepal	21.4
41	Mongolia	159.4	98	Iran	67.0	155	Liberia	20.9
42	Dominica	157.0	99	Namibia	66.4	156	Tanzania	20.9
43	Finland	156.1	100	Singapore	65.3	157	Gambia	19.2
44	Lithuania	155.6	101	Armenia	64.4	158	Ethiopia	18.3
45	Chile	155.6	102	Seychelles	63.9	159	Guinea	16.5
46	Uruguay	150.8	103	Libya	60.8	160	Rwanda	16.5
47	Norway	144.8	104	Palestinian Territory	59.5	161	Iraq	15.7
48	Grenada	144.2	105	Thailand	58.9	162	Sri Lanka	15.7
49	Slovakia	142.6	106	Botswana	57.3	163	Eritrea	15.7
50	Gabon	142.0	107	Peru	57.1	164	Togo	14.3
51	Romania	140.9	108	Tunisia	56.7	165	Mozambique	12.6
52	Mexico	137.1	109	El Salvador	54.9	166	India	11.2
53	Jamaica	134.9	110	Guatemala	54.2	167	Sierra Leone	10.8
54	Belarus	134.3	111	Uzbekistan	54.0	168	Democratic Republic of the Congo	10.1
55	Venezuela	134.0	112	Morocco	52.5	169	Malawi	10.1
56	Brunei Darussalam	133.6	113	Somalia	51.8	170	Burundi	8.2
57	Estonia	131.6	114	Myanmar	50.7	171	Bangladesh	6.8

IV. Top Meat Consuming Countries, 2007

The chart below is taken from the Economist's Apr. 30, 2012, article "Kings of the Carnivores," which used data from the FAO. View the full data of all 177 countries in the study.

The chart below measures consumption in kilograms (2.2 lbs = 1 kg) per person and total consumption in metric tonnes (1 metric tonne = 2204.6 lbs).

V. Per Capita Beef, Chicken, and Pork Consumption of Major Import and Export Countries, 2010

The data below are from the United States Department of Agriculture's Apr. 15, 2011, report Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade, available at www.fas.usda.gov. The USDA selects countries for the consumption chart that are major importers or exporters of beef, chicken, or pork. Consumption of chicken is based on 3-5 pound chickens that are slaughtered at 6-8 weeks old. The Middle East consumption of chicken may be overstated due to transshipments in the region and temporary workers who are not included in official population statistics.

Beef and Veal (lbs/person/yr)

Chicken (lbs/person/yr)

Pork (lbs/person/yr)

Uruguay	136.9	Kuwait	132.1	Hong Kong	144.8
Argentina	123.0	United Arab Emirates	130.1	Belarus	104.7
United States	85.5	Brazil	100.1	EU-27	95.2
Brazil	83.3	United States	95.7	China	83.6
Paraguay	78.5	Hong Kong	94.8	Taiwan	78.9
Australia	77.8	Saudi Arabia	93.9	Switzerland	73.1
Canada	65.3	Malaysia	82.2	South Korea	69.7
New Zealand	64.4	Australia	78.3	United States	61.5
Kazakhstan	59.1	Argentina	74.3	Norway	55.1
Hong Kong	52.4	Chile	69.0	Canada	52.7
Chile	52.1	South Africa	67.9	Chile	50.7
Uzbekistan	47.4	Venezuela	66.1	Australia	49.6
Colombia	42.3	Canada	65.5	New Zealand	46.7
Venezuela	40.1	Mexico	65.5	Vietnam	46.3
Mexico	40.0	Taiwan	61.7	Russia	43.9
EU-27	36.6	Iran	54.7	Japan	43.2
Russia	36.6	Colombia	53.4	Ukraine	38.6
South Africa	30.9	Russia	46.3	Mexico	34.8
South Korea	27.6	EU-27	39.2	Kazakhstan	32.6
Iran	21.6	Ukraine	37.9	Argentina	14.8

Visit the ProCon.org community on: