The preliminary information from the Federal Information Center for Agriculture shows that the long-term trend towards lower meat consumption continued in 2022: At 52 kilograms per person, per capita meat consumption fell by around 4.2 kilograms compared to 2021 and is the lowest it has been since consumption calculations began in 1989.
People ate around 2.8 kilograms less pork, 900 grams less beef and veal and 400 grams less poultry. A possible reason for declining meat consumption could be the continuing trend towards a plant-based diet.
The trends in domestic demand are reflected in the net production of animals slaughtered domestically: compared to the previous year, 9.8 percent less pork and 8.2 percent less beef and veal were produced. Net production of poultry meat fell by 2.9 percent.
According to the preliminary figures from the Federal Information Center for Agriculture, meat production for 2022 will be at 116 percent compared to domestic demand (previous year: 118 percent). In the case of poultry, 97.4 percent of domestic demand can be covered from domestic production.
