Austrian Meat Demand Slides as Average Price Reaches EUR 12.10 per Kilo, Up 39.8% Since 2016

Prices up almost 40 percent since 2016

Austrian households are still buying meat, but they are buying less of it. According to heute.at, citing a new study by YouGov and INTEGRAL Marktforschung published for World Vegetarian Day on 1 October, a kilogram of meat or poultry now costs an average of 12.10 euros in Austria — 39.8 percent more than in 2016.

Household penetration has barely shifted: 96.9 percent of Austrian households bought meat or poultry over the past twelve months, only 1.5 percent below the July 2016 reading. The volume picture is different. Sales of meat and poultry are 6.6 percent lower than in 2016, and the study finds that households which still buy meat reach for it less often and take less home per shopping trip.

Beef absorbs the steepest increase

The sharpest price move is in beef. The average kilo price stands at 17.51 euros, more than 26 percent above 2024. Pork was the only meat type to become somewhat cheaper in the most recent period, which matters for processors whose product mix is weighted toward pork-based cuts and convenience lines.

The internal balance of the category is moving as well. Chicken now accounts for 16 percent of recorded meat volume and expanded its share despite higher prices. Pork volumes remained broadly stable. Beef, together with mixed beef and pork, lost some ground in revenue terms — a signal that shoppers are trading down within the meat aisle rather than leaving it altogether.

Sausage loses households and volume

Processed meat is declining on both measures at once. In 2016, 98.1 percent of Austrian households bought sausage products; in 2026 the figure is 94.8 percent. Over the same period the volume purchased fell 8.3 percent, making cured and cooked sausage the weakest performer in the basket.

Stated intentions point the same way. Of the meat eaters surveyed, 36 percent plan to eat less meat in the near future. “This intention can be observed across all lifeworlds, but it is shaped in particular by people who are willing to change or sustainability-oriented. For them, animal welfare and climate protection are the priority,” said Martin Mayr, a member of INTEGRAL's management. The share of the population that eats meat fell from 93 percent in 2018 to 89 percent, and close to half say they eat plant-based products more frequently than before.

Substitutes reach every third household

The substitute market is scaling from a small base at double-digit rates. Some 33.5 percent of Austrian households bought meat alternatives in the past twelve months, so one household in three is now a buyer. Buyer reach rose 7.2 percent against 2023, total volume sold grew 33 percent, and spending per household increased by around 20 percent over the same period.

• Average price of meat and poultry: 12.10 euros per kilogram, up 39.8 percent on 2016
• Beef: 17.51 euros per kilogram, more than 26 percent above 2024
• Meat and poultry volume: 6.6 percent below 2016; sausage volume down 8.3 percent
• Meat substitutes: bought by 33.5 percent of households, volume up 33 percent since 2023

“Our data show that meat remains firmly anchored in everyday shopping in Austria. At the same time, we see plant-based alternatives increasingly finding their place in the basket,” said Christina Tönniges of YouGov CP Austria, adding that the substitute category is no longer carried only by traditional vegetarian target groups but is growing across different social groups. Mayr framed the same shift as the spread of flexitarianism: meat that once sat on the menu as a matter of course is now being questioned.