Russian meat consumption hits record 100.7 kg per person as poultry drives the gain

Per-capita consumption of meat and meat products in Russia reached an all-time high of 100.7 kg in meat equivalent last year, according to Rosstat estimates reported by Agroinvestor. The comparable figure a year earlier was 99.9 kg. Calculations by RIA Novosti, cited by Lenta.ru, confirm that the indicator passed the 100 kg mark per person per year for the first time.

Poultry accounts for the entire increase

Poultry showed the most visible growth. Agroinvestor put consumption at 26.3 kg per person in 2025 against 25.3 kg in 2024. Lenta.ru, citing RIA Novosti, gives 26.4 kg for the same year; the two estimates differ by 0.1 kg, while both point to roughly a one-kilogram annual gain concentrated in chicken.

Beef and veal were effectively flat at 9.3 kg per person, against 9.4 kg in 2024. Pork moved in the opposite direction, easing from 17.4 kg to 17.1 kg per person per year. That combination means the record headline number was built entirely on the cheapest animal protein in the basket, not on a broad-based rise across species.

Processed categories showed no substantial change. Sausages accounted for an average of 10.5 kg per person, and meat semi-finished and ready-to-eat products for 10.3 kg. Consumption of frankfurters and small sausages declined to 5.2 kg per person per year.

Cheap protein absorbs the demand

Leonid Kholod, Doctor of Economics, attributes the record demand to several factors, among them that prices for chicken and pork in real terms, adjusted for inflation, have now fallen to 2020-2021 levels. His comment was carried by the radio station Govorit Moskva and reported by Lenta.ru.

“Now very expensive types of meat have separated out, and less of them is offered on the market. So demand has concentrated on cheap meat — poultry and pork,” Kholod said. He added that fish plays a limited role in the Russian diet: “We do not eat much fish, so everything is loaded onto these relatively cheap types of meat.”

Russia sits inside the developed-market band

Global average per-capita meat consumption stands at 29.3 kg per year, according to FAO data cited by Dmitry Aveltsov, head of the Agriculture Ministry's Agroanalytics Center, at the Agroinvestor: PRO Livestock and Compound Feed conference. The world figure was 26 kg in 2010. By region, the United States and the EU consume 90-120 kg, Latin America 80-100 kg, Asia 30-70 kg and Africa less than 20 kg — placing Russia's 100.7 kg within the range typical of developed markets.

“On the one hand the population is growing, on the other, per-capita meat consumption is increasing. From this we conclude that the global trend is still steady growth in meat consumption, meaning demand will grow,” Aveltsov said, adding that the global increase is being formed by countries with currently low consumption.

Chicken is the main driver and the most stable growth factor worldwide. FAO figures show poultry consumption added an average of 2.7% per year between 2010 and 2024. Annual growth was around 1% for pork and also about 1% for beef, though beef consumption is stagnating in developed countries because of its cost, including relative to poultry, and environmental considerations.

Forecasts and planning risk

The US Department of Agriculture expects the pork market to stabilise in 2026, with production up 0.6% and exports up 0.5%. Poultry remains the main growth driver at plus 2.5% and plus 3.5% respectively, while cattle output is seen falling 1.1% and exports 0.8%, with the resulting deficit supporting beef prices.

For Russian producers, the record does not guarantee a stable trajectory. Independent meat market expert Musheg Mamikonyan said at the Forum of Meat Analysts 2.0 that consumption is likely to fluctuate in both directions. That unpredictability is one reason the meat industry as a whole, and individual businesses within it, have become harder to forecast than before, carrying specific risks for investment planning.