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Consumption of meat per capita falls below 52 kilograms

The long-term trend towards a lower meat consumption in Germany continues in 2023. On the basis of the new calculation method, the provisional figures provided by the Federal Information Centre for Agriculture (BZL) show that the consumption of meat per capita fell by 430 grams to 51.6 kilograms in 2023.

The biggest percentage reduction is recorded by beef and veal: consumption per capita fell by almost five per cent to 8.9 kilograms. The consumption of pork also declined in 2023. Here, the quantity consumed dropped by almost 600 grams to 27.5 kilograms per person. A quarter of the meat consumed is poultry, especially chicken. Poultry consumption experienced an increase of around 900 grams per person in 2023. Therefore, the consumption of poultry per capita was 13.1 kilograms in 2023.

The reasons for the decline in meat consumption may include changes in people’s diets. A universally heightened awareness of the impact that a high meat consumption can have on people’s individual health, the climate and the environment may also play a role.

The overall decrease in the consumption of meat is accompanied by a decline in imports of meat, meat products and tinned food made from pork, beef and veal. Especially with regard to pork, imports are falling steadily (most recently to around 0.96 tonnes in 2023), and the export rates are higher than the import rates (more than 2.22 million tonnes in 2023).

Meat production: more poultry, beef and veal – less pork

The net production of pork, i.e. the meat from animals slaughtered in the country, fell to 4.2 million tonnes of carcass weight (-6.8 %) in 2023. On the other hand, the net production of poultry rose to 1.52 million tonnes of carcass weight (+1.4 %), and the net production of beef and veal was one million tonnes (+0.5 %).

The self-sufficiency rate for meat was 120 % (2022: 125 %).

New calculation method: data comparable from 2010

The BZL, which is based in the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE), has adjusted the method for calculating the meat supply balance on the basis of new scientific findings about the flow of goods and current factors for the conversion of meat consumption. For better comparability over time, the meat supply was calculated retrospectively back to 2010. Only these data can be compared.

You can find further information about the meat balance sheet for 2023 at www.ble.de/fleisch and www.bmel-statistik.de/fleisch.

In January 2024, the BZL offered an online seminar on the new calculation method. The documents are available at www.praxis-agrar.de/veranstaltungen.