Are the French becoming less carnivorous? Average meat consumption per capita has fallen by 5.8% in twenty years in France, a decline that particularly affects beef and masks the rise of chicken in the French diet, according to a statistical note published on Thursday.
Last year, average meat consumption stood at 83.5 kg carcass equivalent per inhabitant, reports a summary distributed by Agreste, the statistical service of the Ministry of Agriculture, and the public establishment FranceAgriMer. Across France, total meat consumption (beef, pork, poultry, lamb, etc.) has increased in twenty years but less quickly than the population, because everyone eats less meat on average.
Decline in consumption during periods of inflation
The decline is significant for beef: consumption averaged 26.3 kg carcass equivalent (kgec) per capita in 2003, compared to 21.3 kgec last year, a drop of 19%. The measurement in kg carcass equivalent does not accurately reflect what the French eat since it includes fat and bones, some of which is not consumed.
Between 2022 and 2023, a period of high inflation, total meat consumption (raw or prepared, at home or outside) fell by 1.4% after two consecutive years of increase “corresponding to the post- Covid-19”. Meat imports also decreased by 1.4% over one year but “nevertheless remain high”, it is observed: “They represent on average more than 30% of total meat consumption”.
Beef and pork consumption have reached their “lowest level” in twenty years or more. Conversely, “the consumption of poultry meat is returning to its upward trajectory observed for twenty years”. Chicken is gaining more and more ground on plates (28% of total meat consumption in 2023, compared to 14% in 2003).
On average, the French now consume 23.3 kgec of chicken. It was 12.1 kgec twenty years ago. “In order to satisfy domestic demand for chicken meat, France is increasingly resorting to imports (+4.4% in 2023). In 2023, it is noted, “imports thus cover 50% of chicken meat consumption. They come primarily from Poland and Belgium.”