Data reveals that meat consumption in Russia increased by about 9.8% year-on-year in 2012, reaching 66kg per capita. Experts pointed out that consumption has now grown for the five past consecutive years, with an average annual growth rate of around 8.4%.
As a result, citizens are now consuming more meat than they ever have, not only in the history of modern Russia, but also in the Soviet Union.
According to a report from the analytical agency Intesco Group, in 2011 the Russian meat market had volumes of RUB450bn (US$15bn). At the end of 2012, its estimated volume reached RUB490bn (US$16.3bn).
“Polls show that more than half of Russians consume meat every day. At the same time, a quarter of respondents said they eat meat one to two times a week, while just 7% of the entire Russian population is only consuming meat products a few times a month. Least of all respondents consume meat several times a year,” said experts at the Intesco Research Group.
“Among the regions, Moscow is the leader for meat consumption, where the volume of the retail trade is about RUB104.6bn (US$3.5 bn) and thus occupies about 23.2% of total meat retail turnover. Second place belongs to the Republic of Bashkortostan, with a total market share of about 5%. These two are followed by the Republic of Dagestan, Sverdlovsk, Moscow and Rostov regions.”
Consumption growth will be an important factor contributing to the growth of meat industry in the country in coming years, said representatives of the National Meat Association. At present, the consumption of meat has still not reached the recommended medical standards by about 15-17 kg. However, due to the forecasted income growth of the Russian citizens, analysts predict that by 2020 the average Russian could eat up to 73-77 kg of meat per year.