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 quadrupled since 1961, reaching around 357 million tonnes in 2021. [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 | 90,737,304 | 2021 |
| 2 |  United States | 48,876,684 | 2021 |
| 3 |  Brazil | 29,497,016 | 2021 |
| 4 |  Russia | 11,346,122 | 2021 |
| 5 |  India | 10,888,240 | 2021 |
| 6 |  Mexico | 7,692,412 | 2021 |
| 7 |  Spain | 7,649,473 | 2021 |
| 8 |  Germany | 7,632,081 | 2021 |
| 9 |  Argentina | 6,152,519 | 2021 |
| 10 |  France | 5,363,326 | 2021 |
| 11 |  Canada | 5,335,358 | 2021 |
| 12 |  Poland | 5,076,195 | 2021 |
| 13 |  Pakistan | 4,983,083 | 2021 |
| 14 |  Indonesia | 4,790,545 | 2021 |
| 15 |  Vietnam | 4,689,921 | 2021 |
| 16 |  Australia | 4,383,355 | 2021 |
| 17 |  Turkey | 4,255,976 | 2021 |
| 18 |  Japan | 4,238,442 | 2021 |
| 19 |  United Kingdom | 4,182,086 | 2021 |
| 20 |  Italy | 3,690,036 | 2019 |
| 21 |  South Africa | 3,508,060 | 2021 |
| 22 |  Netherlands | 3,037,072 | 2021 |
| 23 |  Egypt | 3,007,820 | 2021 |
| 24 |  Colombia | 2,932,011 | 2021 |
| 25 |  Thailand | 2,929,310 | 2021 |
| 26 |  Philippines | 2,787,635 | 2021 |
| 27 |  South Korea | 2,733,404 | 2021 |
| 28 |  Iran | 2,621,062 | 2021 |
| 29 |  Ukraine | 2,439,081 | 2021 |
| 30 |  Peru | 2,197,571 | 2021 |
| 31 |  Denmark | 2,011,712 | 2021 |
| 32 |  Malaysia | 1,889,289 | 2021 |
| 33 |  Belgium | 1,844,274 | 2021 |
| 34 |  Taiwan | 1,703,423 | 2021 |
| 35 |  Chile | 1,575,171 | 2021 |
| 36 |  New Zealand | 1,502,865 | 2021 |
| 37 |  Nigeria | 1,472,987 | 2021 |
| 38 |  Uzbekistan | 1,310,144 | 2021 |
| 39 |  Belarus | 1,253,648 | 2021 |
| 40 |  Kazakhstan | 1,231,038 | 2021 |
| 41 |  Morocco | 1,209,709 | 2021 |
| 42 |  Saudi Arabia | 1,202,137 | 2021 |
| 43 |  Ireland | 1,159,033 | 2021 |
| 44 |  Myanmar | 1,116,440 | 2021 |
| 45 |  Hungary | 1,056,929 | 2021 |
| 46 |  Sudan | 1,003,776 | 2021 |
| 47 |  Zimbabwe | 997,907 | 2021 |
| 48 |  Romania | 983,450 | 2021 |
| 49 |  Bolivia | 966,758 | 2021 |
| 50 |  Venezuela | 951,385 | 2021 |
| 51 |  Ethiopia | 933,124 | 2021 |
| 52 |  Ecuador | 910,273 | 2021 |
| 53 |  Austria | 871,833 | 2020 |
| 54 |  Chad | 861,417 | 2021 |
| 55 |  Portugal | 859,339 | 2021 |
| 56 |  Israel | 828,443 | 2021 |
| 57 |  Algeria | 781,518 | 2021 |
| 58 |  Tanzania | 765,856 | 2021 |
| 59 |  Burkina Faso | 735,915 | 2021 |
| 60 |  Bangladesh | 734,114 | 2021 |
| 61 |  Uruguay | 701,710 | 2021 |
| 62 |  Paraguay | 674,135 | 2021 |
| 63 |  Guatemala | 619,464 | 2021 |
| 64 |  Sweden | 581,060 | 2021 |
| 65 |  Kenya | 559,727 | 2021 |
| 66 |  Turkmenistan | 527,590 | 2021 |
| 67 |  Serbia | 524,071 | 2021 |
| 68 |  Nepal | 520,742 | 2021 |
| 69 |  Papua New Guinea | 517,853 | 2021 |
| 70 |  Malawi | 513,842 | 2021 |
| 71 |  Switzerland | 491,981 | 2021 |
| 72 |  Dominican Republic | 487,198 | 2021 |
| 73 |  Czech Republic | 467,561 | 2019 |
| 74 |  Uganda | 460,203 | 2021 |
| 75 |  Mongolia | 441,277 | 2021 |
| 76 |  Greece | 435,653 | 2021 |
| 77 |  Yemen | 434,631 | 2021 |
| 78 |  Finland | 410,998 | 2021 |
| 79 |  Norway | 370,916 | 2021 |
| 80 |  Tunisia | 369,589 | 2021 |
| 81 |  Azerbaijan | 357,572 | 2021 |
| 82 |  Panama | 352,874 | 2021 |
| 83 |  Syria | 349,446 | 2021 |
| 84 |  Zambia | 344,424 | 2021 |
| 85 |  Nicaragua | 326,971 | 2021 |
| 86 |  Tajikistan | 326,813 | 2021 |
| 87 |  Ivory Coast | 326,734 | 2021 |
| 88 |  North Korea | 320,414 | 2021 |
| 89 |  Angola | 319,788 | 2021 |
| 90 |  Senegal | 318,448 | 2021 |
| 91 |  Cameroon | 312,180 | 2021 |
| 92 |  Afghanistan | 312,155 | 2021 |
| 93 |  Costa Rica | 306,944 | 2021 |
| 94 |  Ghana | 306,298 | 2021 |
| 95 |  Honduras | 304,754 | 2021 |
| 96 |  Jordan | 288,571 | 2021 |
| 97 |  Mozambique | 287,093 | 2021 |
| 98 |  Sri Lanka | 261,758 | 2021 |
| 99 |  Democratic Republic of the Congo | 254,825 | 2021 |
| 100 |  South Sudan | 254,377 | 2021 |
| 101 |  Croatia | 242,419 | 2021 |
| 102 |  Kyrgyzstan | 240,594 | 2021 |
| 103 |  Cuba | 235,008 | 2021 |
| 104 |  Iraq | 223,716 | 2021 |
| 105 |  Bulgaria | 221,738 | 2019 |
| 106 |  Lithuania | 213,369 | 2021 |
| 107 |  Laos | 208,881 | 2021 |
| 108 |  Niger | 200,235 | 2021 |
| 109 |  Cambodia | 194,643 | 2021 |
| 110 |  Central African Republic | 190,613 | 2021 |
| 111 |  United Arab Emirates | 181,535 | 2021 |
| 112 |  Libya | 180,667 | 2021 |
| 113 |  Somalia | 180,046 | 2021 |
| 114 |  Mali | 170,481 | 2021 |
| 115 |  Lebanon | 167,792 | 2021 |
| 116 |  Hong Kong | 166,062 | 2021 |
| 117 |  Guinea | 158,531 | 2021 |
| 118 |  El Salvador | 156,711 | 2021 |
| 119 |  Madagascar | 155,368 | 2021 |
| 120 |  Slovakia | 152,396 | 2018 |
| 121 |  Slovenia | 141,812 | 2021 |
| 122 |  Jamaica | 139,464 | 2021 |
| 123 |  Kuwait | 122,304 | 2021 |
| 124 |  Mauritania | 118,986 | 2021 |
| 125 |  Singapore | 116,121 | 2021 |
| 126 |  Moldova | 112,282 | 2021 |
| 127 |  Haiti | 108,415 | 2021 |
| 128 |  Rwanda | 103,592 | 2021 |
| 129 |  Armenia | 95,500 | 2021 |
| 130 |  Latvia | 90,929 | 2021 |
| 131 |  Oman | 89,582 | 2021 |
| 132 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | 85,974 | 2021 |
| 133 |  Benin | 84,567 | 2021 |
| 134 |  Cyprus | 82,079 | 2021 |
| 135 |  Albania | 78,666 | 2021 |
| 136 |  Estonia | 77,750 | 2021 |
| 137 |  Botswana | 73,510 | 2021 |
| 138 |  Namibia | 73,122 | 2021 |
| 139 |  Georgia | 72,569 | 2021 |
| 140 |  Palestine | 72,087 | 2021 |
| 141 |  Republic of the Congo | 64,399 | 2021 |
| 142 |  Togo | 63,524 | 2021 |
| 143 |  Guyana | 52,689 | 2021 |
| 144 |  Mauritius | 52,262 | 2021 |
| 145 |  Trinidad and Tobago | 50,788 | 2021 |
| 146 |  Sierra Leone | 50,765 | 2021 |
| 147 |  Qatar | 47,880 | 2021 |
| 148 |  Burundi | 43,123 | 2021 |
| 149 |  Puerto Rico | 42,244 | 2021 |
| 150 |  Eritrea | 41,751 | 2021 |
| 151 |  Gabon | 40,954 | 2021 |
| 152 |  Liberia | 37,789 | 2021 |
| 153 |  Brunei | 35,963 | 2021 |
| 154 |  Fiji | 34,645 | 2021 |
| 155 |  Bahrain | 34,434 | 2021 |
| 156 |  Iceland | 34,322 | 2021 |
| 157 |  Guinea-Bissau | 26,883 | 2021 |
| 158 |  Eswatini | 26,342 | 2021 |
| 159 |  North Macedonia | 24,584 | 2021 |
| 160 |  Timor-Leste | 23,751 | 2021 |
| 161 |  Luxembourg | 23,222 | 2021 |
| 162 |  Belize | 22,945 | 2021 |
| 163 |  Suriname | 17,098 | 2021 |
| 164 |  Barbados | 16,371 | 2021 |
| 165 |  Montenegro | 12,655 | 2021 |
| 166 |  Djibouti | 11,378 | 2021 |
| 167 |  Malta | 10,064 | 2021 |
| 168 |  Lesotho | 9,221 | 2021 |
| 169 |  Gambia | 9,220 | 2021 |
| 170 |  Macau | 9,153 | 2021 |
| 171 |  New Caledonia | 6,996 | 2021 |
| 172 |  Bahamas | 6,702 | 2021 |
| 173 |  Vanuatu | 6,256 | 2021 |
| 174 |  Cape Verde | 5,091 | 2021 |
| 175 |  Bhutan | 4,268 | 2021 |
| 176 |  Solomon Islands | 3,659 | 2021 |
| 177 |  Samoa | 3,292 | 2021 |
| 178 |  Saint Lucia | 2,742 | 2021 |
| 179 |  Tonga | 2,463 | 2021 |
| 180 |  Comoros | 2,270 | 2021 |
| 181 |  Kiribati | 2,028 | 2021 |
| 182 |  French Polynesia | 1,754 | 2021 |
| 183 |  Federated States of Micronesia | 1,521 | 2021 |
| 184 |  São Tomé and Príncipe | 1,496 | 2021 |
| 185 |  Dominica | 1,423 | 2021 |
| 186 |  Grenada | 1,179 | 2021 |
| 187 |  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 1,179 | 2021 |
| 188 |  Seychelles | 866 | 2021 |
| 189 |  Maldives | 861 | 2021 |
| 190 |  Faroe Islands | 683 | 2021 |
| 191 |  Equatorial Guinea | 645 | 2021 |
| 192 |  Cook Islands | 428 | 2021 |
| 193 |  Tuvalu | 192 | 2021 |
| 194 |  Antigua and Barbuda | 148 | 2021 |
| 195 |  Saint Kitts and Nevis | 146 | 2021 |
| 196 |  Niue | 94 | 2021 |
| 197 |  Nauru | 80 | 2021 |
| 198 |  Tokelau | 63 | 2021 |
| 199 |  Vatican City | 0 | 2021 |
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Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chickens, sheep, rabbits, pigs, and cattle. This eventually led to their use in meat production on an industrial scale in slaughterhouses.
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting useful animal products such as meat, eggs or feathers, and 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 and other flying birds that are kept and killed for their meat such as the young pigeons, but does not include wild birds hunted for food known as game or quarry.
An agricultural subsidy is a government incentive paid to agribusinesses, agricultural organizations and farms to supplement their income, manage the supply of agricultural commodities, and influence the cost and supply of such commodities.
A meat alternative or meat substitute is a food product made from vegetarian or vegan ingredients, eaten as a replacement for meat. Meat alternatives typically approximate qualities of specific types of meat, such as mouthfeel, flavor, appearance, or chemical characteristics. Plant- and fungus-based substitutes are frequently made with soy, but may also be made from wheat gluten as in seitan, pea protein as in the Beyond Burger, or mycoprotein as in Quorn.
Conversations regarding the ethics of eating meat are focused on whether or not it is moral to eat non-human animals. Ultimately, this is a debate that has been ongoing for millennia, and it remains one of the most prominent topics in food ethics.
Environmental vegetarianism is the practice of vegetarianism that is motivated by the desire to create a sustainable diet, which avoids the negative environmental impact of meat production. Livestock as a whole is estimated to be responsible for around 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, significant reduction in meat consumption has been advocated by, among others, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in their 2019 special report and as part of the 2017 World Scientists' Warning to Humanity.
Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production. The meat of mature or almost mature cattle is mostly known as beef. In beef production there are three main stages: cow-calf operations, backgrounding, and feedlot operations. The production cycle of the animals starts at cow-calf operations; this operation is designed specifically to breed cows for their offspring. From here the calves are backgrounded for a feedlot. Animals grown specifically for the feedlot are known as feeder cattle, the goal of these animals is fattening. Animals not grown for a feedlot are typically female and are commonly known as replacement heifers. While the principal use of beef cattle is meat production, other uses include leather, and beef by-products used in candy, shampoo, cosmetics, and insulin.
Food loss and waste is food that is not eaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during production, processing, distribution, retail and food service sales, and consumption. Overall, about one-third of the world's food is thrown away. A 2021 meta-analysis that did not include food lost during production, by the United Nations Environment Programme found that food waste was a challenge in all countries at all levels of economic development. The analysis estimated that global food waste was 931 million tonnes of food waste across three sectors: 61 percent from households, 26 percent from food service and 13 percent from retail.
Intensive animal farming, industrial livestock production, and macro-farms, also known by opponents as factory farming, is a type of intensive agriculture, specifically an approach to animal husbandry designed to maximize production, while minimizing costs. To achieve this, agribusinesses keep livestock such as cattle, poultry, and fish at high stocking densities, at large scale, and using modern machinery, biotechnology, and global trade. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption. There are issues regarding whether intensive animal farming is sustainable in the social long-run given its costs in resources. Analysts also raise issues about its ethics.
Poultry farming is the form of animal husbandry which raises domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese to produce meat or eggs for food. Poultry – mostly chickens – are farmed in great numbers. More than 60 billion chickens are killed for consumption annually. Chickens raised for eggs are known as layers, while chickens raised for meat are called broilers.
A sustainable food system is a type of food system that provides healthy food to people and creates sustainable environmental, economic, and social systems that surround food. Sustainable food systems start with the development of sustainable agricultural practices, development of more sustainable food distribution systems, creation of sustainable diets, and reduction of food waste throughout the system. Sustainable food systems have been argued to be central to many or all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Many farmers in India depend on animal husbandry for their livelihood. In addition to supplying milk, meat, eggs, wool, their castings (dung) and hides, animals, mainly bullocks, are the major source of power for both farmers and dairies. Thus, animal husbandry plays an important role in the rural economy. The gross value of output from this sector was 8,123 billion Rupees in FY 2015–16.
Animal feed is food given to domestic animals, especially livestock, in the course of animal husbandry. There are two basic types: fodder and forage. Used alone, the word feed more often refers to fodder. Animal feed is an important input to animal agriculture, and is frequently the main cost of the raising or keeping of animals. Farms typically try to reduce cost for this food, by growing their own, grazing animals, or supplementing expensive feeds with substitutes, such as food waste like spent grain from beer brewing.
A low-carbon diet is a diet with low greenhouse gas emissions. Choosing a low carbon diet is one facet of developing sustainable diets which increase the long-term sustainability of humanity.
The environmental impacts of animal agriculture vary because of the wide variety of agricultural practices employed around the world. Despite this, all agricultural practices have been found to have a variety of effects on the environment to some extent. Animal agriculture, in particular meat production, can cause pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, disease, and significant consumption of land, food, and water. Meat is obtained through a variety of methods, including organic farming, free-range farming, intensive livestock production, and subsistence agriculture. The livestock sector also includes wool, egg and dairy production, the livestock used for tillage, and fish farming.
Sustainable diets are "dietary patterns that promote all dimensions of individuals’ health and wellbeing; have low environmental pressure and impact; are accessible, affordable, safe and equitable; and are culturally acceptable". These diets are nutritious, eco-friendly, economically sustainable, and accessible to people of various socioeconomic backgrounds. Sustainable diets attempt to address nutrient deficiencies and excesses, while accounting for ecological phenomena such as climate change, loss of biodiversity and land degradation. These diets are comparable to the climatarian diet, with the added domains of economic sustainability and accessiblity.
Farm water, also known as agricultural water, is water committed for use in the production of food and fibre and collecting for further resources. In the US, some 80% of the fresh water withdrawn from rivers and groundwater is used to produce food and other agricultural products. Farm water may include water used in the irrigation of crops or the watering of livestock. Its study is called agricultural hydrology.
Philip John Lymbery is the Global CEO of farm animal welfare charity, Compassion in World Farming International, Visiting Professor at the University of Winchester’s Centre for Animal Welfare, President of Eurogroup for Animals, Brussels, founding Board member of the World Federation for Animals and a Leadership Fellow at St George's House, Windsor Castle.
Buffalo meat is the meat of the water buffalo, a large bovid, raised for its milk and meat in many countries including India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Bulgaria, Italy, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Australia and Egypt.
The term animal–industrial complex (AIC) refers to the systematic and institutionalized exploitation of animals. It includes every economic activity involving animals, such as the food industry, animal testing, medicine, clothing, labor and transport, tourism and entertainment, selective breeding, and so forth. Proponents of the term claim that activities described by the term differ from individual acts of animal cruelty in that they constitute institutionalized animal exploitation.
