Why the world will continue to eat meat

Published 2023년 6월 6일

Tridge summary

The article provides an overview of the significant trends in global population growth and meat consumption over the past six decades. It highlights a nearly tripling of the global population to 8 billion, alongside a five-fold increase in meat consumption, reaching 343 million tonnes in 2022. The consumption patterns are predominantly focused on chicken, pork, and beef, with the highest per capita consumption found in wealthier nations like the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, and to a lesser extent in Argentina and Uruguay. Conversely, consumption remains low in countries like Burundi and India. Brazil emerges as a key player in meeting the rising demand, being the world's largest exporter of chicken and beef, while also providing quality proteins to poorer countries. This growth in meat consumption is anticipated to continue, with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) projecting an additional 15% increase by 2030, particularly driven by emerging and developing countries. Despite this, the vegetarian and vegan market niche is also noted to be on the rise.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

By Lygia Pimentel* In the past 60 years, the world's population has nearly tripled. We grew from 3 to 8 billion people. Meanwhile, meat consumption rose from 71 to 343 million (tonnes) at the close of 2022, a five-fold increase. Per capita consumption went from 24 to 46 kg per person per year. Today, this consumption can be divided into 39% chicken meat, 33% pork, 23% beef and 5% meat from sheep and goats. This pace of growth is striking and is justified, given the increasing population of people who can afford efficient protein sources, which are more expensive than vegetables and cereals. As a rule, the higher the per capita GDP of a country, the higher its meat consumption per inhabitant. And not by chance, when there is an increase in income, there is also an increase in the consumption of meat and, consequently, a reduction in the consumption of vegetables and cereals. Proof of this is that the largest consumers of meat in the world are the United States, Australia and New ...

Source: Beefpoint