Top 10 Meat Producing Countries In the World 

Beef is one of the most important products in the global livestock market. Meat is an important source of nutrition for many people around the world. The world now produces more than 340 million tonnes each year. The worldwide the meat industry is valued at just over 838 billion U.S. dollars. The dominant livestock types are poultry, cattle which includes beef and buffalo meat, pig, and sheep & goat to a lesser extent. Asia is the largest meat-producing region, accounting for around 40-45 per cent of total meat production. The United States was the largest producer of beef in the world followed by Brazil & the European Union. The United States, Brazil and the European Union accounted for roughly 50% of the world's beef production. Brazil is the world’s biggest exporter of frozen beef, generating one-quarter of worldwide frozen beef shipments. The United States and Australia are top exporters of fresh or chilled beef, supplying around one-quarter of global fresh or chilled beef.

Scroll through to see all Top 10 Meat Producing Countries In the World :-

10. Turkey :-

Turkey's meat production reached 1.5 million tons. Livestock constitutes approximately 25% of the value of all agricultural production and contributes to the economic development of rural households. Production consisted of 1.07 million tons of cattle, 109,382 tons of sheep, 16,536 tons of goat and 73 tons of buffalo meat. The country also produced 348.8 million poultry animals chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese.

9. Pakistan :-

Pakistan's meat production reached 1.7 million tons. Livestock is considered a central component in the agricultural sector of Pakistan and employs more than 8 million families. In Pakistan, the livestock sector including the beef, mutton, and poultry industry has a rich contribution. Pakistani meat is exported to many Middle East countries

Balochistan province has a comparative advantage to rare livestock for beef and mutton meat production over the rest of the provinces; there is potency for producing chicken meat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, while Sindh province has almost the same efficiency to produce beef and chicken meat.

8. Mexico :-

Mexico’s meat production reached 1.8 million tons. Livestock contributes to more than 40 per cent of the value of the country's food production. Mexico is the tenth largest beef exporting country. The U.S. is the largest destination for Mexican beef exports. Some of the most representative dishes in Mexico typically include some kind of meat. Tacos al pastor, tacos de bistec and tacos de carne asada also include meat. The Mexican multinational meat companies Sigma Alimentos and Bachoco are among the leading food and beverages enterprises.

7. Australia :-

Australia’s meat production reached 2.1 million tons. The red meat and livestock industry is a big contributor to Australia’s national economy. Australia’s red meat supply chain supports thousands of jobs within agriculture, livestock sales, on-farm production, wild animal harvesting, meat processing, transportation, wholesaling, and the retail sale of meat. Australia’s red meat industry employs approximately 189,000 people directly and a further 245,000 indirectly. It generated $80 billion in industry turnover.

Australia has the 7th largest population of cattle in the world. And a whopping 46% of these are located in Queensland. Around 97% of Australian cattle are grass-fed due to plentiful grazing pastures. For this reason, the demand for Australian beef is strong around the world. Australia exports 70% of its meat with the remaining 30% going to the domestic market. Most of our beef and veal exports go to China, Japan, the United States, the Republic of Korea, and Indonesia.

6. Argentina :-

Argentina’s meat production reached 2.6 million tons. Argentina exports 900,700 tonnes of meat were exported. China remained the main destination, with 109,000 tonnes, followed by Israel with 11,000 tonnes and Chile with 8,300 tonnes. Argentina has one of the biggest cattle herds in Latin America, with over 52 million head of cattle. Argentinian livestock is distributed over 320,000 production units linked to 205,000 farms. Cattle production is concentrated in five main farming regions including North West, Cuyo Patagonia, North East and Pampeña–Central. There is 45 million head of cattle located in the North-Easy and Pampeña–Central.

5. India :-

India’s meat production reached 4.2 million tons. India accounts for only around 2 per cent of the global market. Livestock provides livelihood to two-thirds of rural communities. About 20.5 million people depend upon livestock for their livelihood. Livestock contributed 16% to the income of small farm households as against an average of 14% for all rural households. It also employs about 8.8 % of the population in India. India has vast livestock resources. The livestock sector contributes 4.11% of GDP and 25.6% of total Agriculture GDP. India is having good potential for meat production because of the large livestock population. The nation has the world’s largest population of livestock at about 515 million.

India exports both frozen and fresh chilled meat to more than 60 countries of the world. The major market for Indian buffalo meat is Malaysia and Egypt and sheep and goat meat are UAE, Iran and Jordan. India exports more than 7,000 metric tons of poultry meat to other countries. India is the second largest producer of buffalo meat in the world. India also exports a small quantity of processed meat to Thailand, Yemen, and Japan and poultry products to Saudi Arabia, Oma
n, Kuwait and Qatar. Uttar Pradesh state has emerged as the major exporter of buffalo meat followed by Punjab and Maharashtra.

4. China :-

China’s meat production reached 6.9 million tons. China ranks as the third largest beef-producing country in the world behind the U.S. and Brazil. China has an estimated total cattle herd of 96.85 million head. The Chinese beef industry also includes yak production on the high Tibet plateau in the southwest and water buffalo production in the south and southeast. In the pork industry, not only is China the world’s leading consumer, but it is also the largest producer by some margin.

3. European Union :-

European Union’s meat production reached 7.8 million tons. The European Union is the third largest producer of beef and veal and the fourth largest producer of chicken in the world. French company LDC leads Europe in poultry production, followed by Plukon Food Group of the Netherlands. Some 90% of farmers with ruminant animals are specialist livestock producers. There were 146 million pigs, 76 million bovine animals and 75 million sheep and goats in the EU. Just over half of the EU’s meat production was from pigs.

2. Brazil :-

Brazil’s meat production reached 9.2 million tons. Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of beef, providing close to 20 per cent of total global beef exports. Brazil has the world’s second-largest cattle herd 232 million head and its production is largely based on grass. The States of Paraná, Santa Caterina, Rio Grande do Sul and São Paolo, account for 70 per cent of poultry production, 49 per cent of pork production, and 26 per cent of beef production

Around 80% of the country’s beef exports are raw meat and live animals. Brazil exports its beef exports to China, Hong Kong, South Africa, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. China and Hong Kong continued to dominate as the top two destinations for Brazil’s beef exports, accounting for 44 per cent of Brazil’s total beef shipments. Brazil is currently the largest producer of halal meat. The Middle East was the third-largest importer of Brazilian beef.

1. United States of America :-

The total production of meat for the United States of America is 11.3 million tonnes. The United States is the world's largest beef producer and second-largest beef exporter. The United States consumes more beef than any other country in the world. Over 30 billion U.S. dollars worth of fresh beef were sold in the United States. Export value of beef and beef variety meat exports reached a record $7.27 billion. U.S. beef has been exported to 135 countries, U.S pork has been shipped to 124 countries, and U.S. chicken was exported to 165 countries. On a volume and value basis, the top four markets for U.S. beef are Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Hong Kong.

The U.S. meat and poultry industry account for $1.02 trillion in total economic output or 5.6 per cent of gross domestic product. Annual sales total $152.5 billion in meat packing and processing and $65.6 billion in poultry slaughter and processing. The meat and poultry industry broadly is responsible for 5.4 million jobs. The U.S. meat industry directly employs more than 500,000 people in production and packing, importing operations, sales, packaging and direct distribution of meat and poultry products. There are 835 federally inspected livestock slaughter plants and 370 poultry slaughter plants in the U.S.