Which Country Prodices the Most Beef?

The USA ranked the highest in cattle meat production with 12.7 Mt followed by Brazil and China, according to FAOstat, based on a comparison of 169 countries in 2021,

Total world's cattle meat production reached 72.4 Mt in 2021, up 1.2 % more than in the previous year and 10.4 % more than 10 years ago. The average annual growth amounted to 1.62 % since 1961.

The top ranked country accounted for 17.6 % of cattle meat production in the world. The top 3 countries hold a 40.7 % share while the ten largest countries some 62.5 % in 2021.

Beef production is expected to grow to 75 Mt by 2030, or 5.8% higher than in 2018-2020, according to FAOstat and OECD outlook. Slow growth is attributable to weak beef demand as consumers shift preferences to poultry meat. Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to have the strongest growth rate at 15%, due to high population growth. On the other hand, North America is projected to grow 6% by 2030 while production in Europe is expected to 5% as inventories of dairy cows, responsible for approximately two-thirds of the beef supply, will decrease following productivity gains in the milk sector.

In India, for example, beef production is projected to fall by 33% by 2030 due to reforms in animal transportation and collection regulations that affect the welfare of animals.

Overall, global meat production is projected to expand by nearly 44 Mt by 2030, reaching 373 Mt. The production share of the world’s top 5 meat producers ‒ China, the United States, the European Union, Brazil, and Russia ‒ will gradually trend downwards from its current level.