According to preliminary data from the Federal Information Center for Agriculture (BZL), per capita meat consumption fell by 2.1 kilograms compared to 2020 and is thus at a new all-time low. In 2021, per capita consumption fell by 1.2 kilograms of pork, 600 grams of beef, and 200 grams of poultry meat compared to the previous year.
![Annual meat consumption in Germany (in kilograms per capita). Source: BLE.](https://www.pig333.com/3tres3_common/art/pig333/18285/annual-meat-consumption-in-germany-in-kilograms-per-capita_244737.jpg?w=820&q=1&ts=1653979446)
Annual meat consumption in Germany (in kilograms per capita). Source: BLE.
![](https://www.pig333.com/3tres3_common/dist_nou/css/images/imb5.png)
As in the previous year, the drop in consumption was accompanied by a decrease in imports of meat, meat products, and canned pork and beef (-6.8%). Imports of poultry meat remained stable.
In addition, the volume of foreign trade of live animals declined again in 2021: imports fell by almost one-fifth (19.6%) across all animal species, and exports fell by 1%.
Foreign trade trends impact animal slaughtering in the country: compared to 2020, 2.4% less pork was produced. For beef and poultry, production fell by 1.6%.
According to preliminary figures, in 2021 the degree of self-sufficiency in meat was 121%, an increase of 2.5%. The self-sufficiency rate for pork was 132.4% and 98.2% for beef. In the case of poultry, 96.7% of domestic demand can be met by domestic production.
March 30, 2022/ BLE/ Germany.
https://www.ble.de/