WASHINGTON — A new report from the Economic Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture stated that China continues to be the world’s largest meat importer, even with the country’s decline in production in the last few years.

The summary from the agency said the Chinese market slowed due to decelerating population and income growth, animal disease, scarcity of land for feed and forage, rising production costs and health concerns.

According to the study, Chinese meat prices rose faster than other commodity prices since the 1990s. However, consumers are still willing to pay for meat.

ERS noted large swings in pork prices as the country continues to recover its hog population after the recent African swine fever (ASF) outbreak.

Imports made up 9.1% of China’s meat supply for 2021, which was up from 1% in 2000. Recent numbers also showed that net meat imports comprised 18.6% of China’s beef and mutton, 8.3% for pork and 5% for poultry.

“Data discrepancies still prevent precise analysis of meat consumption trends despite China’s revisions of production data and survey methods,” ERS said in the report. “Statistics indicate that China’s per capita meat supply is about twice as large as consumption reported by a Chinese national household survey. Meat supply statistics indicate an apparent plateau in China’s meat consumption after 2014, but the household survey indicates more robust growth in meat consumption.”

The ERS estimated that China’s peak meat output was in 2014. After output decreased over the last five to six years, the agency projected Chinese production to slowly increase until 2031.

More information on the ERS report can be found here.