GERMANY

Germany: Import of goose meat has fallen by 50.6 percent within ten years

St. Martin's Day on November 11th is, alongside the Advent and Christmas seasons, a traditional occasion in Germany to eat roast goose. But this special poultry seems to be appearing less and less frequently on the menu. In 2023, 12,100 tonnes of goose meat were imported, only half as much as ten years previously (-50.6%), according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). In 2013, a good 24,500 tonnes were imported from abroad.

Posted on Nov 13 ,00:05

As in previous years, the majority of imported goose meat in 2023 came from Eastern European EU countries: 9,500 tonnes, or a good three-quarters (78.5%), were imported from Poland, while almost 2,400 tonnes, or a fifth (19.5%) of goose meat imports, came from Hungary.

2,300 tons of goose meat from slaughter in Germany

Only a small part of the supply of goose meat in Germany comes from commercial slaughter. In 2023, just under 2,300 tonnes of goose meat were produced in this country, a decrease of 18.3% compared to 2013 (production in 2013: just under 2,800 tonnes). Almost four fifths (79.2%) of the slaughtered volume last year came from the months of October, November and December. December alone accounted for 42.7%.

Compared to other types of poultry, goose meat plays a rather minor role in culinary terms in this country. Only 0.1% of the 1.6 million tonnes of poultry meat from commercial slaughter in Germany in 2023 came from geese. By comparison: 1.4% came from ducks, 26.7% from turkeys and by far the largest share, 69.4%, came from young broiler chickens.