Red meat, livestock industry well placed to capitalise on exceptional conditions

AUSTRALIA’S red meat and livestock industry experienced exceptional operating conditions and our red meat is recognised as a high-quality product domestically and all around the globe, according to the Australian red meat and livestock industry State of the Industry Report 2022 released recently.

The report produced by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) provides an overview of Australia’s red meat and livestock industry from the prior calendar year, and includes figures on production, consumption, exports and the economic significance of the industry and key issue snapshots. This edition examines financial year 2020-2021 and calendar year 2021. 

Australia’s red meat and livestock industry’s turnover totalled $67.7 billion in FY2020–2021, accounting for approximately 1.7% of Australia’s total key industry turnover. Industry turnover is defined as income generated by businesses within the industry from the sales of goods and services.

MLA managing director, Jason Strong, said the report highlighted the resilience of Australian red meat producers in the face of both domestic and global challenges.

Exports

Red meat and livestock exports fell 22% year-on-year to total $14.6 billion in 2020–2021. However, this is 11% higher than 2016–2017 levels. The fall in exports is due to lower livestock supply, a result of the national flock and herd rebuild that occurred in FY2021. 

For calendar year 2021, China held its position as the largest importer of beef and veal in volume terms, followed by the United States and Japan. While China was also the largest importer of sheepmeat in 2021, followed by the United States and the United Kingdom. The largest goatmeat importers were the United States, Taiwan and South Korea.

Queensland continued to be the largest exporter of beef and veal in 2020–2021, accounting for approximately 54% of Australia’s beef and veal export volumes. Victoria is Australia’s largest sheepmeat exporter, accounting for approximately 40% of total sheepmeat exports.

Domestic consumption

Australia’s per capita beef and sheepmeat consumption continues to be one of the largest in the world.

Australian per capita consumption of beef was approximately 19.2kg in 2021, while the global average is 6.4kg. 

The retail price for lamb has climbed higher in recent years. However, Australia continues to be one of the largest per capita consumers of sheepmeat in the world.

Overall, two thirds of Australian consumers have maintained their level of red meat consumption over the past 10 years, while 29% of consumers have reduced their intake and 15% of consumers have increased their red meat consumption. 

Read the full report, State of the Industry Report 2022.