The most consumed type of meat worldwide is poultry, followed by beef, and lastly pork. The countries with the highest meat consumption per capita are Argentina, Israel, and Iceland, while India has one of the lowest levels of meat consumption per capita.
The United States was the largest consumer of beef in the world in 2020 followed by China, the EU, Brazil and India. The world consumed 130 billion pounds of beef in 2020. The United States accounted for roughly 21% of the beef consumed in the world in 2020.
In Paraguay, for example, an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 2011 resulted in cattle slaughter. Australia continues to be one of the world's top meat-eating countries, with an annual consumption of 89.6kg per capita in 2019, up from 88.2kg per capita in 2000.
Australia is among the top meat-consuming nations of the world - eating on average almost 108kg of meat annually per person.
When compared with its major export partners, Australia's meat consumption closely matches the United States (Figure 2). In both countries poultry is the most consumed meat at over 40 kg per person. Beef and veal and pig meat each account for between 20 and 30 kg per person.
Japanese Wagyu beef is ultimately the most delicious type of beef in the world. It has a better texture and taste than Australian one. But, Australian Wagyu has its worth as it is about 95% of the original Japanese Wagyu beef. However, both the Wagyu beef, Australian and Japanese, are in demand because of purity.
2/ Australian beef is packed full of flavour (and nutrition)
In Australia, around 97% of cattle is grass fed thanks to our plentiful grazing pastures. Many steak aficionados prefer the taste of grass-fed beef as it tends to be more flavoursome and has a classic “meaty” profile.
Aussies actually eat Kanagroo meat. You'll see them packed on supermarket shelves and on restaurant menus. Kangaroo is lean red meat, it's healthy and you can prepare it in many ways – steaks, burgers, sausages, and much more.
Australians love chicken twice as much as beef and pork, and six times more than lamb – in fact we eat more chicken than any other country in the Western World.
Australian beef is leaner by virtue of the All-Grass diet with a much more distinct fresh Grass-Fed flavor and sweeter aroma. US beef which will tend to be much lighter in color and fattier by virtue of grains being used more.
NAB economist Phin Ziebell said there were several factors behind the price drop, including an oversupply of cattle in Australia. "What's happened is, we had the drought, we had the herd rebuild, the herd rebuild is done," Mr Ziebell said. "We've had these really great three years, three wet years.
Beef. Beef exports totalled 854,596 tonnes for the year, down 4% from 2021 and the lowest total exports since 2003. Export volumes fell in most major markets, with Japan and the USA each falling 8%, South-East Asia and the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region falling 6%, and South Korea falling 3%.
Beef cattle are reared outdoors in all Australian states and territories. Southern areas with good pasture have herds with a high density of stock and northern areas, with less feed, have herds with a low density of stock.
Sheep meat consumption
According to the OECD, the consumption of sheep's meat—including both lamb and mutton—is most popular in Kazakhstan, Australia, and Turkey.
The country that consumes the greatest amount of chicken is the United States. Every year, the United States consumes approximately 15,000 metric tons of chicken, placing it significantly in front of the second-place region.
The top consumer of pork in 2021 continued to be China, taking into account its special economic regions Hong Kong, Macau, and Mainland China, whose consumptions were about 61, 52, and 37 kg/inhabitant respectively.
1. Chicken parmigiana. This classic Aussie chicken dish – with roots in Italian-American cooking – is a staple offering at many pub menus in the country. Whether you call it a parmi/parmy or a parma (but never a parmo), there's huge debate about where does the best parmigiana in Australia.
Keeping them fed
Farmers need pasture to feed their cattle, meaning many have serious fertiliser bills. Australia imports a significant amount of fertiliser, so when China started holding back supplies for its domestic market during COVID-19, Australian farmers were left scrambling to get hold of it.
Rockhampton is the Beef Capital of Australia. With a long history of beef production, two major abattoirs and 10 Bull statues in key locations across the city this tour will give you the opportunity to pull on your cowboy boots, channel your inner jackaroo and who knows maybe even ride a bull!
Health and environmental concerns are changing Australians' attitude towards eating meat, causing more people to adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet.
Quality. It's no secret that Australian beef is some of the highest quality beef in the world.
China has placed tariffs on Australian barley and wine in recent years, and suspended the live lobster trade and coal imports, until this week. It also blocked imports from eight beef exporters from Queensland, NSW and Victoria, over labelling non-compliance and COVID-19 related issues.
Australia shipped 158,000t of beef to China in 2022, a long way from the 300,000t in trade seen in 2019 before the plant suspensions started. One estimate suggested 50pc of Australia's original China-approved processing capacity had been removed following the suspensions.
Australian Wagyu is a breed of beef that has been developed for the Australian market. They are genetically linked to the Japanese Wagyu breed, but are raised in Australia, where they are fed a diet of grain and hay.