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Countries that Eat the Most Meat

Which countries are the biggest consumers of meat? Name the countries that eat the most meat per capita, including fish.
Data for the year 2020. Source: ourworldindata.org
Color-coded by continent
Countries with a population < 1 million in (parentheses)
Quiz by maxvenble
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Last updated: November 6, 2023
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First submittedSeptember 24, 2015
Times taken40,654
Average score55.0%
Rating4.21
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Kg
Country
(168)
Iceland
149
United States
149
Portugal
145
Australia
(144)
Antigua and Barbuda
141
Spain
(137)
Nauru
Kg
Country
132
South Korea
(125)
Samoa
123
Israel
(121)
St. Kitts and Nevis
(121)
St. Vincent and the
Grenadines
120
Lithuania
(119)
Barbados
Kg
Country
118
Norway
117
Argentina
117
Taiwan
116
Malaysia
(115)
St. Lucia
113
France
64 Comments
+4
Level 65
Sep 24, 2015
Interesting quiz!

Nice idea

+1
Level 75
Feb 22, 2018
Tough one! I got 18/21 but the three I missed were in the top five.
+2
Level 34
Mar 3, 2018
Nice quiz Quizmaster, thanks.
+7
Level 82
Mar 19, 2018
Kind of amazed Uruguay doesn't make it. They beat even Argentina in beef consumption, but they mustn't eat much else besides.
+2
Level 59
Apr 19, 2018
Agreed. Those were the first countries I wrote in.
+1
Level 81
May 27, 2018
+19
Level 62
May 27, 2018
yeah i'd say less importantly
+8
Level 81
May 27, 2018
I also did a quiz on countries that consume the least pork, if that's more to your liking.
+2
Level 38
May 27, 2018
I like that the United States is 100%. :D
+3
Level 72
May 27, 2018
Really? No Mongolia? What do they eat there if not meat?
+5
Level 87
May 27, 2018
Good question. Wikipedia says, "Mongolian cuisine primarily consists of dairy products, meat, and animal fats." My guess would be that, while you'd be hard-pressed to find Mongolian dishes that don't contain meat, the actual amount of meat in each dish is small, and most of the actual calories come either from grains (for example, dumpling wrappers) or dairy.
+12
Level 87
May 27, 2018
Also, remember this is not "what percentage of the diet is meat" but rather "what quantity of meat is eaten per capita." Mongolia is poorer than a lot of the countries on this list, so the average person there probably eats less food overall, which would bring down the amount of meat consumed. And meat tends to be more expensive than other sources of calories, too.
+1
Level 87
May 27, 2018
I was surprised not to see the U.K. make the list. They're a well-to-do country with--I thought--a typical western European diet, like many of the countries on this list.
+2
Level 60
May 27, 2018
Completely agree. Lived in the UK my whole life and we’re definitely a country that loves meat. I feel like in the past year, more and more people I know are choosing vegetarian or vegan diets so perhaps meat consumption is in decline in the UK?
+2
Level 48
May 27, 2018
I'm surprised too... From the source: UK and Italy are only just off the table both with 58.3 grams/day.

UK Government family food purchases has this on meat trends:

Purchases of chicken have increased over the last 10 years and were the most popular unprocessed meat product purchased by weight at 193g per person per week in 2016/17. This was followed by beef which has remained fairly stable in recent years at around 100g per person per week. Lamb has shown a clear downward trend over the last 10 years, whilst pork has been relatively stable.

Purchases of bacon and ham, meat pies, sausages and burgers are generally stable or show slight downward trends over the last 10 years. Ready meals and convenience meat products continue their clear upward trend, with a highest ever estimate of 170g per person per week in 2016/17.

+1
Level 83
Dec 7, 2020
I wonder if this isn't part because of the large immigrant population from the subcontinent (India/Pakistan) that eat little to no meat. It certainly would bring the average down.
+3
Level 93
Nov 7, 2023
probably not as much as you suppose; the recent census data had 5.8% from indian or pakistani ethnicity.
+2
Level 69
Feb 21, 2021
You have to factor in that a British sausage probably doesn't contain that much stuff you could legally classify as "meat".
+3
Level 75
Feb 21, 2021
"emulsified high-fat offal tube"
+1
Level 69
Feb 21, 2021
That's exactly what I was referring to! Man, that show is so awesome!
+2
Level 70
May 27, 2018
Includes fish is a little off-putting. Might as well include eggs etc. Might be different list without fish.
+3
Level 63
May 29, 2018
Why? Eggs are just chicken menstruation
+12
Level 69
Jun 5, 2018
Eggs are no menstruation, unless you think chickens are mammals.
+6
Level 60
Sep 6, 2021
Eggs aren't meat! (And fish are) I as a vegetarian can confirm this.
+7
Level 39
May 28, 2018
Surprised Hungary wasn't there! :P
+3
Level 39
May 29, 2018
Sorry that was a dumb pun
+2
Level 72
Dec 9, 2020
You came back the next day just to say that ? :D :) that''s nice/funny
+2
Level 60
Sep 6, 2021
Apparently the pun got more likes than the dumb pun comment
+2
Level 80
May 28, 2018
Please keep in mind, for this and several other quizzes, that data from any UN agency should be taken skeptically, best not to be used at all (FAO especially dubious). They accept without challenge whatever BS they are fed by respective member states, so what can you expect?
+1
Level 83
Jun 4, 2018
Yeah it's super strange that only Monenegro maes the list from eastern Europe. I guess simply lots of meat doesn't make it into the statistics.
+1
Level 35
May 28, 2018
I missed France (!) and Lithuania!
+4
Level 63
May 29, 2018
I'm disappointed by the Nordic countries. Thought we were more forward thinking than this. I get Iceland, because those poor, starving people they have to eat something on their barren rocks, but still...
+10
Level 83
Jun 4, 2018
The others' climate isn't much more veggie friendly.
+20
Level 61
Oct 12, 2019
Here’s some “forward thinking” for you:

Humans are omnivores.

Hope you’re enjoying your tofu!

+1
Level 60
Oct 17, 2021
Some Humans are omnivores. Others are herbivores.
+5
Level 50
Jan 27, 2019
What do they eat in Turkey then if not Turkey?
+5
Level 61
Oct 12, 2019
Anything but turkey, they’re not cannibals!
+1
Level 37
Feb 12, 2019
I got the Maldives with just 2 seconds on the clock. wow
+4
Level 47
Mar 17, 2019
Wow Holland, eat some vegetables once in awhile.
+1
Level 72
Sep 15, 2019
Would love to see this filled in on a map during the quiz. (So only shown after you type in a correct answer, not allready indicated)

Unexpected that all the countries in the northsea area besides the uk are on this.(norway, sweden, finland, denmark, germany, netherlands, belgium, ireland. And throw in iceland and luxembourgh)

+10
Level 59
May 22, 2020
Being a vegetarian, these stats are terrible.
+15
Level 65
Dec 7, 2020
Being a meatlover, I can relate to these stats
+10
Level 69
Feb 21, 2021
Being an omnivore, I don't really care about either of your sentiments.
+1
Level 71
Feb 21, 2021
I guessed estonia and latvia and then figured that the 3rd wouldnt be on here as well, so i didnt bother.
+1
Level 20
Feb 21, 2021
why are most of the countries are European
+6
Level 75
Feb 21, 2021
I think mostly it's because Europe is full of animals that are/were easy to domesticate: cows, pigs, sheep, goats, plump birds etc. It's not a huge continent either, so most places are close to the sea or large rivers for fish. Compare the Americas or Africa - hardly any animals that can be domesticated so meat was much harder to come by historically.

This, by the way, is why so many Americans died of disease when the Europeans arrived - the Europeans were used to living alongside animals and had immunity to many of their diseases, but the Americans didn't.

Also, this quiz is about the sheer quantity of meat eaten, so rich countries have a higher probability of making it because they consume more food overall.

+1
Level 71
Nov 7, 2023
Wealth is a huge factor, meat is expensive.
+4
Level 57
Feb 21, 2021
I THOUGHT THAT ISRAEL HAD ONE OF THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF VEGANS!!!
+1
Level 72
Nov 7, 2023
Israel is made up of Americans, so they are meat eaters.
+5
Level 53
Feb 22, 2021
Anytime it asks for food consumption, everyone's first guess is USA
+1
Level 66
Feb 22, 2021
I'm deeply surprised by absence of Vatican xD
+2
Level 47
Feb 24, 2021
Surprised to not see Mongolia here
+1
Level 50
Feb 24, 2021
Surprised that Lithuanians eat so much more meat than Estonians and Latvians
+3
Level 40
Mar 8, 2021
I'm vegetarian 🤣

Why am I even here

+1
Level 60
Sep 6, 2021
Same! I just came here to see how stupid it is and to identify my fellow vegetarians
+2
Level 64
Nov 7, 2023
I'd love to see a quiz with the highest number of vegans/vegetarians
+1
Level 37
Oct 18, 2021
I got Malta!!!
+3
Level 77
Nov 6, 2023
Shouldn't the number for Samoa be in parentheses according to the quiz instructions? I must have tried New Zealand at least three times just in case I had misspelt it the previous time.
+1
Level 59
Nov 6, 2023
Yes, that threw me off as well - it has way less than a million people (about 220k).
+1
Level ∞
Nov 6, 2023
Fixed
+1
Level 80
Nov 7, 2023
I'm from the least-guessed country!
+1
Level 88
Nov 7, 2023
Hmm... per capita, Icelanders are the #1 meat eaters and (on the other quiz) the #2 fish eaters in the world. They should be the fattest people anywhere.
+2
Level 80
Nov 8, 2023
This quiz includes fish, which is by far the most consumed if you look at the other quizzes, so fish consumption determines a lot. Also eating meat does not equate to obesity. Fish and seafood especially are rather nutritious.
+1
Level 83
Apr 3, 2024
All meat is nutritious when eaten without the other crap that most people eat with it.