The following article lists the world's largest producers of meat. Global meat production has increased rapidly over the past 50 years. According to Our World in Data, meat production has more than quintupled since 1961, reaching around 361 million tonnes in 2022. [1] The most popular meat globally is poultry, followed by pork, beef and mutton. Over 90 billion animals are slaughtered each year for meat. [2]
Countries and some territories by meat production. [1]
| Rank | Country | Meat production (in tonnes) | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  China | 92,948,520 | 2022 |
| 2 |  United States | 47,530,724 | 2022 |
| 3 |  Brazil | 30,397,944 | 2022 |
| 4 |  Russia | 12,244,950 | 2022 |
| 5 |  India | 10,644,195 | 2022 |
| 6 |  Mexico | 7,891,058 | 2022 |
| 7 |  Spain | 7,562,136 | 2022 |
| 8 |  Germany | 7,026,648 | 2022 |
| 9 |  Argentina | 6,339,574 | 2022 |
| 10 |  Pakistan | 5,248,574 | 2022 |
| 11 |  Canada | 5,213,636 | 2022 |
| 12 |  France | 5,106,484 | 2022 |
| 13 |  Poland | 5,091,000 | 2022 |
| 14 |  Indonesia | 4,985,907 | 2022 |
| 15 |  Vietnam | 4,730,438 | 2022 |
| 16 |  Turkey | 4,669,652 | 2022 |
| 17 |  Australia | 4,471,332 | 2022 |
| 18 |  United Kingdom | 4,220,672 | 2022 |
| 19 |  Japan | 4,163,305 | 2022 |
| 20 |  South Africa | 3,534,461 | 2022 |
| 21 |  Egypt | 3,406,693 | 2022 |
| 22 |  Colombia | 3,064,670 | 2022 |
| 23 |  Netherlands | 2,999,508 | 2022 |
| 24 |  Thailand | 2,961,210 | 2022 |
| 25 |  Philippines | 2,907,638 | 2022 |
| 26 |  South Korea | 2,727,070 | 2022 |
| 27 |  Iran | 2,702,516 | 2022 |
| 28 |  Peru | 2,256,424 | 2022 |
| 29 |  Ukraine | 2,205,514 | 2022 |
| 30 |  Malaysia | 1,912,610 | 2022 |
| 31 |  Denmark | 1,882,619 | 2022 |
| 32 |  Belgium | 1,724,323 | 2022 |
| 33 |  Nigeria | 1,651,712 | 2022 |
| 34 |  Taiwan | 1,585,565 | 2022 |
| 35 |  Chile | 1,559,920 | 2022 |
| 36 |  New Zealand | 1,456,140 | 2022 |
| 37 |  Saudi Arabia | 1,388,790 | 2022 |
| 38 |  Uzbekistan | 1,348,460 | 2022 |
| 39 |  Kazakhstan | 1,240,976 | 2022 |
| 40 |  Belarus | 1,220,493 | 2022 |
| 41 |  Ireland | 1,184,998 | 2022 |
| 42 |  Morocco | 1,173,980 | 2022 |
| 43 |  Myanmar | 1,116,716 | 2022 |
| 44 |  Sudan | 1,017,911 | 2022 |
| 45 |  Bolivia | 998,284 | 2022 |
| 46 |  Venezuela | 968,196 | 2022 |
| 47 |  Romania | 965,262 | 2022 |
| 48 |  Hungary | 960,509 | 2022 |
| 49 |  Ecuador | 954,060 | 2022 |
| 50 |  Chad | 922,437 | 2022 |
| 51 |  Zimbabwe | 918,058 | 2022 |
| 52 |  Austria | 874,227 | 2021 |
| 53 |  Israel | 862,670 | 2022 |
| 54 |  Portugal | 859,039 | 2022 |
| 55 |  Ethiopia | 844,000 | 2022 |
| 56 |  Algeria | 803,545 | 2022 |
| 57 |  Tanzania | 798,138 | 2022 |
| 58 |  Uruguay | 739,750 | 2022 |
| 59 |  Bangladesh | 735,879 | 2022 |
| 60 |  Paraguay | 666,553 | 2022 |
| 61 |  Guatemala | 663,713 | 2022 |
| 62 |  Malawi | 630,759 | 2022 |
| 63 |  Kenya | 609,255 | 2022 |
| 64 |  Sweden | 569,568 | 2022 |
| 65 |  Burkina Faso | 564,302 | 2022 |
| 66 |  Mongolia | 554,546 | 2022 |
| 67 |  Papua New Guinea | 528,814 | 2022 |
| 68 |  Serbia | 526,380 | 2022 |
| 69 |  Nepal | 512,789 | 2022 |
| 70 |  Dominican Republic | 501,743 | 2022 |
| 71 |  Switzerland | 495,054 | 2022 |
| 72 |  Czech Republic | 467,546 | 2019 |
| 73 |  Greece | 459,087 | 2022 |
| 74 |  Uganda | 454,417 | 2022 |
| 75 |  Yemen | 436,244 | 2022 |
| 76 |  Cameroon | 415,030 | 2022 |
| 77 |  Finland | 403,712 | 2022 |
| 78 |  Tajikistan | 377,983 | 2022 |
| 79 |  Tunisia | 373,125 | 2022 |
| 80 |  Norway | 372,784 | 2022 |
| 81 |  Angola | 369,918 | 2022 |
| 82 |  Azerbaijan | 368,323 | 2022 |
| 83 |  Turkmenistan | 359,569 | 2022 |
| 84 |  Syria | 342,504 | 2022 |
| 85 |  Senegal | 338,927 | 2022 |
| 86 |  Honduras | 333,851 | 2022 |
| 87 |  Panama | 332,068 | 2022 |
| 88 |  North Korea | 324,407 | 2022 |
| 89 |  Nicaragua | 322,374 | 2022 |
| 90 |  Jordan | 320,606 | 2022 |
| 91 |  Zambia | 314,965 | 2022 |
| 92 |  Mozambique | 311,080 | 2022 |
| 93 |  Costa Rica | 310,487 | 2022 |
| 94 |  Ivory Coast | 309,188 | 2022 |
| 95 |  Ghana | 308,458 | 2022 |
| 96 |  Cuba | 291,392 | 2022 |
| 97 |  Afghanistan | 271,641 | 2022 |
| 98 |  Sri Lanka | 260,288 | 2022 |
| 99 |  Kyrgyzstan | 256,840 | 2022 |
| 100 |  Iraq | 254,365 | 2022 |
| 101 |  Democratic Republic of the Congo | 251,417 | 2022 |
| 102 |  South Sudan | 246,185 | 2022 |
| 103 |  Croatia | 231,050 | 2022 |
| 104 |  Bulgaria | 221,739 | 2019 |
| 105 |  Lithuania | 213,371 | 2021 |
| 106 |  Laos | 211,602 | 2022 |
| 107 |  Niger | 196,479 | 2022 |
| 108 |  Central African Republic | 191,389 | 2022 |
| 109 |  Cambodia | 189,963 | 2022 |
| 110 |  El Salvador | 185,709 | 2022 |
| 111 |  Somalia | 185,700 | 2022 |
| 112 |  Libya | 183,581 | 2022 |
| 113 |  Lebanon | 175,472 | 2022 |
| 114 |  Mali | 174,869 | 2022 |
| 115 |  United Arab Emirates | 174,344 | 2022 |
| 116 |  Madagascar | 162,164 | 2022 |
| 117 |  Jamaica | 154,067 | 2022 |
| 118 |  Slovenia | 137,900 | 2022 |
| 119 |  Hong Kong | 133,441 | 2022 |
| 120 |  Guinea | 126,802 | 2022 |
| 121 |  Mauritania | 126,701 | 2022 |
| 122 |  Kuwait | 125,523 | 2022 |
| 123 |  Moldova | 115,782 | 2022 |
| 124 |  Haiti | 108,362 | 2022 |
| 125 |  Armenia | 103,428 | 2022 |
| 126 |  Benin | 102,526 | 2022 |
| 127 |  Latvia | 92,230 | 2022 |
| 128 |  Oman | 89,985 | 2022 |
| 129 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | 88,705 | 2022 |
| 130 |  Rwanda | 84,521 | 2022 |
| 131 |  Albania | 80,836 | 2022 |
| 132 |  Cyprus | 79,222 | 2022 |
| 133 |  Estonia | 75,380 | 2022 |
| 134 |  Singapore | 74,759 | 2022 |
| 135 |  Georgia | 74,539 | 2022 |
| 136 |  Togo | 70,986 | 2022 |
| 137 |  Botswana | 69,926 | 2022 |
| 138 |  Namibia | 68,713 | 2022 |
| 139 |  Republic of the Congo | 63,271 | 2022 |
| 140 |  Palestine | 61,229 | 2022 |
| 141 |  Guyana | 60,821 | 2022 |
| 142 |  Mauritius | 59,176 | 2022 |
| 143 |  Trinidad and Tobago | 54,410 | 2022 |
| 144 |  Fiji | 53,917 | 2022 |
| 145 |  Sierra Leone | 50,821 | 2022 |
| 146 |  Burundi | 45,581 | 2022 |
| 147 |  Eritrea | 42,664 | 2022 |
| 148 |  Puerto Rico | 41,876 | 2022 |
| 149 |  Gabon | 41,086 | 2022 |
| 150 |  Bahrain | 36,639 | 2022 |
| 151 |  Liberia | 36,146 | 2022 |
| 152 |  Brunei | 34,219 | 2022 |
| 153 |  Iceland | 33,700 | 2022 |
| 154 |  Qatar | 33,364 | 2022 |
| 155 |  Timor-Leste | 29,031 | 2022 |
| 156 |  Eswatini | 26,065 | 2022 |
| 157 |  Guinea-Bissau | 25,603 | 2022 |
| 158 |  Belize | 24,940 | 2022 |
| 159 |  North Macedonia | 23,842 | 2022 |
| 160 |  Luxembourg | 22,740 | 2022 |
| 161 |  Barbados | 18,620 | 2022 |
| 162 |  Suriname | 17,224 | 2022 |
| 163 |  Djibouti | 11,445 | 2022 |
| 164 |  Malta | 9,948 | 2022 |
| 165 |  Montenegro | 9,703 | 2022 |
| 166 |  Lesotho | 9,155 | 2022 |
| 167 |  Macau | 9,035 | 2022 |
| 168 |  Gambia | 7,448 | 2022 |
| 169 |  New Caledonia | 6,903 | 2022 |
| 170 |  Bahamas | 6,526 | 2022 |
| 171 |  Vanuatu | 5,356 | 2022 |
| 172 | Lesotho | 9,221 | 2021 |
| 173 |  Cape Verde | 4,442 | 2022 |
| 174 |  Bhutan | 4,240 | 2022 |
| 175 |  Solomon Islands | 3,634 | 2022 |
| 176 |  Samoa | 3,283 | 2022 |
| 177 |  Saint Lucia | 3,114 | 2022 |
| 178 |  Tonga | 2,440 | 2022 |
| 179 |  Seychelles | 2,359 | 2022 |
| 180 |  Comoros | 2,296 | 2022 |
| 181 |  Kiribati | 2,073 | 2022 |
| 182 |  French Polynesia | 1,656 | 2022 |
| 183 |  São Tomé and Príncipe | 1,497 | 2022 |
| 184 |  Federated States of Micronesia | 1,479 | 2022 |
| 185 |  Dominica | 1,414 | 2022 |
| 186 |  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 1,063 | 2022 |
| 187 |  Grenada | 1,018 | 2022 |
| 188 |  Maldives | 855 | 2022 |
| 189 |  Faroe Islands | 705 | 2022 |
| 190 |  Equatorial Guinea | 649 | 2022 |
| 191 |  Cook Islands | 424 | 2022 |
| 192 |  Saint Kitts and Nevis | 234 | 2022 |
| 193 |  Antigua and Barbuda | 212 | 2022 |
| 194 |  Tuvalu | 190 | 2022 |
| 195 |  Niue | 95 | 2022 |
| 196 |  Nauru | 78 | 2022 |
| 197 |  Tokelau | 51 | 2022 |
| 198 | Antigua and Barbuda | 148 | 2021 |
| 199 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 146 | 2021 |
| 200 | Niue | 94 | 2021 |
| 201 | Nauru | 80 | 2021 |
| 202 | Tokelau | 63 | 2021 |
| 203 |  Vatican City | 0 | 2021 |
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Meat is animal tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, and cattle, starting around 11,000 years ago. Since then, selective breeding has enabled farmers to produce meat with the qualities desired by producers and consumers.
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, eggs or feathers. The practice of raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes. The term also includes waterfowls of the family Anatidae but does not include wild birds hunted for food known as game or quarry.
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