The growth in meat consumption is “due largely to growing incomes and westernisation of diets in many emerging economies” such as Asia and Latin America, said the report. It forecast that developing countries will drive demand as consumers have more money to spend on meat. This growth will capture 82% of the extra global meat consumption.
Consumers in developed countries will also eat more meat – mostly poultry – consuming an extra 3.6kg per capita by 2021. This growth will remain strong even though demand in developed countries is “largely saturated” and food scares such as E.coli contaminations will curb some demand for meat, said the report.
Developing economies will also dominate production: by 2021, they will produce the majority of the world’s bovine (58%), pigmeat (64%), poultry (63%) and sheepmeat (78%) products. Meanwhile, poultry production will grow the fastest globally, overtaking pigmeat by 2021 as the largest meat sector. However, high operating costs will eventually force production to slow to 1.8% per year from an average of 2.2% per year.
The report cites a growth in developing country per capita meat consumption of 3.2kg per year, with poultry making up 70% of the increase. In contrast, worldwide per capita wheat consumption for food is not expected to grow, remaining at around 65kg per person per year.
