From the staggering 362 million metric tons of meat produced globally to the hidden costs on our health and planet, these statistics reveal the immense scale and profound impact of the meat industry today.
Key Takeaways
- Global meat production reached 362 million metric tons in 2022
- US beef production in 2023 was 26.2 billion pounds
- Chicken meat production worldwide hit 137 million tons in 2022
- Global meat consumption averaged 43.2 kg per capita in 2021
- US per capita meat consumption was 99.6 kg in 2022
- China meat consumption reached 60 kg per capita in 2022
- Global meat market revenue $1.3 trillion in 2022
- US meat industry employs 2.6 million people
- Global beef market size $400 billion in 2023
- Meat industry uses 77% of agricultural land
- Animal agriculture emits 14.5% global GHG
- Beef production water footprint 15,000 liters per kg
- Antibiotic use in livestock 70% global
- Processed meat WHO Group 1 carcinogen
- Red meat consumption links to colorectal cancer risk up 18%
The global meat industry produces immense volumes but faces significant environmental and health challenges.
Consumption
- Global meat consumption averaged 43.2 kg per capita in 2021
- US per capita meat consumption was 99.6 kg in 2022
- China meat consumption reached 60 kg per capita in 2022
- Brazil per capita chicken consumption is 50 kg yearly
- EU average meat consumption is 80 kg per capita in 2022
- India per capita meat consumption is 4.5 kg in 2022
- US chicken consumption per capita 50 kg in 2022
- Global beef consumption was 25 kg per capita in 2022
- Pork consumption worldwide 12.5 kg per capita
- Russia per capita meat consumption 70 kg in 2022
- Australia meat consumption per capita 90 kg
- Mexico per capita poultry consumption 38 kg in 2022
- Japan pork consumption per capita 25 kg
- Turkey meat consumption grew 5% in 2022
- Canada per capita beef consumption 25 kg
- South Korea chicken consumption per capita 15 kg
- Vietnam per capita pork consumption 30 kg
- Argentina beef consumption per capita 55 kg
- Philippines poultry consumption per capita 20 kg
- Germany per capita meat consumption 75 kg in 2022
- Nigeria meat consumption per capita 10 kg
- Thailand per capita chicken consumption 22 kg
- UK meat consumption per capita 75 kg
- Indonesia pork-free but poultry 12 kg per capita
- France pork consumption per capita 30 kg
- Egypt poultry consumption per capita 15 kg
- US red meat consumption declined 3% in 2022
- Global poultry consumption share 40% of total meat
- China poultry demand up 4% yearly
- Per capita lamb consumption global 1.8 kg
- Brazil beef consumption per capita 40 kg
Consumption Interpretation
The world's dinner plate is a wildly unbalanced scale, where the average global citizen nibbles at 43 kilograms of meat while some countries, like the USA, are pushing a hundred-kilo personal feast, proving that our appetite for meat is less a shared meal and more a series of solo culinary marathons with vastly different finishing lines.
Economics
- Global meat market revenue $1.3 trillion in 2022
- US meat industry employs 2.6 million people
- Global beef market size $400 billion in 2023
- Pork industry contributes $100 billion to US GDP
- Chicken market worldwide $300 billion revenue
- Brazil meat exports $12 billion in 2022
- US meat exports reached $20 billion in 2023
- EU meat production value €170 billion
- China meat import value $20 billion yearly
- Global meat processing market $250 billion
- Australian beef exports $10 billion AUD
- US poultry industry $65 billion value
- World meat trade volume 40 million tons
- India poultry market $20 billion
- Mexico meat exports $3 billion
- Russia meat production economic contribution 2% GDP
- Turkey poultry exports $1 billion
- Canada meat industry $25 billion CAD
- Vietnam pork market value $10 billion
- Argentina beef exports $3 billion
- Philippines meat import dependency 20%
- Global meat packaging market $8 billion
- New Zealand meat exports $9 billion NZD
- South Africa poultry market $5 billion
- Thailand meat exports $2 billion
- US beef processing plants 650, economic impact $50B
- China pork industry losses $20B from ASF
- EU meat subsidies €5 billion annually
- Livestock sector 40% agricultural GDP globally
Economics Interpretation
The global appetite for meat has built a trillion-dollar empire so vast that its economic hoofprint is felt in every corner of the world, from the feedlot to the trading floor.
Environment
- Meat industry uses 77% of agricultural land
- Animal agriculture emits 14.5% global GHG
- Beef production water footprint 15,000 liters per kg
- Meat industry deforestation 80% Amazon cattle
- Poultry farming 8% global ammonia emissions
- Global meat 29% agricultural emissions
- US livestock 5% national GHG
- Pork production land use 10 m² per kg
- Chicken water use 4,300 liters per kg
- Beef methane emissions 60 kg per kg meat
- Factory farms pollute 35% US waterways
- Global feed production 1 billion tons yearly
- Meat 14.5% anthropogenic GHG
- Brazil soy for feed 80% livestock
- US manure lagoons emit 3.5 million tons CO2e
- Lamb GHG footprint 40 kg CO2e per kg
- Poultry manure nitrogen pollution 20%
- Global fisheries impact from meat demand indirect
- Feed conversion ratio beef 25:1
- Pork eutrophication 100g PO4eq per kg
- US cattle land 41% total ag land
- Chicken GHG 6 kg CO2e per kg
- Deforestation for pasture 70% global
Environment Interpretation
It’s a voracious, climate-warming, deforestation-driving, water-guzzling, and pollution-spewing system that commands an astonishing share of our planet's resources just to put meat on the table.
Health
- Antibiotic use in livestock 70% global
- Processed meat WHO Group 1 carcinogen
- Red meat consumption links to colorectal cancer risk up 18%
- US obesity linked to meat-heavy diets 30%
- Factory farms Salmonella in 20% chicken
- Global Campylobacter from poultry 30%
- Heart disease risk from processed meat 23%
- US E.coli outbreaks from beef 80%
- Antibiotic resistance from farms 80% human strains
- Diabetes risk up 19% high meat intake
- 1 in 6 Americans sick from foodborne illness yearly, mostly meat
- Factory farming bird flu H5N1 risk high
- Saturated fat in meat 40% heart disease factor
- 70 billion animals slaughtered yearly welfare issues
- Gestation crates ban reduces stress hormones 50%
- Battery cages cause 30% bone breaks in hens
- Antibiotics in US meat 4 million kg yearly
- Vegan diets reduce cancer risk 15%, vs meat eaters
- Crowded farms zoonotic disease spillover 75%
- WHO recommends limit red meat 300g/week
- US pork trichinosis near zero due to inspections
- Animal welfare scores low 80% factory farms
- Meat consumption hypertension risk 17%
- Global AMR deaths 1.27 million partly livestock
Health Interpretation
We've somehow engineered a dinner plate that's a grim package deal, offering you a side of carcinogens, antibiotic resistance, and heart disease, while treating animals so poorly that their misery becomes a public health crisis.
Production
- Global meat production reached 362 million metric tons in 2022
- US beef production in 2023 was 26.2 billion pounds
- Chicken meat production worldwide hit 137 million tons in 2022
- Pork production globally was 114 million tons in 2022
- Brazil produced 9.8 million tons of beef in 2022
- US poultry production reached 47.5 billion pounds in 2023
- Global lamb and goat meat production was 16 million tons in 2022
- India produced 4.5 million tons of buffalo meat in 2022
- EU pork production totaled 22 million tons in 2022
- Turkey produced 2.3 million tons of chicken in 2022
- US turkey production was 4.8 billion pounds in 2023
- China beef production reached 7 million tons in 2022
- Global duck meat production was 4.8 million tons in 2022
- Australia exported 1.2 million tons of beef in 2022
- Mexico pork production was 1.8 million tons in 2022
- World broiler production grew 2.5% in 2023
- US veal production was 85 million pounds in 2023
- Russia chicken production hit 4.5 million tons in 2022
- Global meat production per capita is 43 kg in 2022
- Argentina beef production was 3 million tons in 2022
- Thailand pork production reached 1.1 million tons in 2022
- Canada poultry production was 1.4 million tons in 2022
- World cattle slaughter for meat was 300 million heads in 2022
- Philippines chicken production grew to 1.8 million tons in 2022
- New Zealand lamb production was 500,000 tons in 2022
- Vietnam pork production was 3.5 million tons in 2022
- US lamb production was 140 million pounds in 2023
- Global goose meat production was 1.2 million tons in 2022
- South Korea beef production reached 300,000 tons in 2022
- Indonesia chicken production was 3.2 million tons in 2022
- Per capita meat production in US is 100 kg annually
Production Interpretation
From Brazil's beef to China's birds, the planet's prodigious and protein-packed appetite is clearly documented—and definitively debited to our environment, health, and conscience.
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