Page 42 - The Welfare of Cattle

eConoMICs of GLobaL CattLe IndustrIes 19

animals have relatively little meat. Because beef consumption is low in India, it is a significant
exporter of bovine meat to other low-income countries.
North America produces 18 percent of the world’s beef with about ten percent of the slaughter
numbers. Meat per animal averages 373 kg. The cattle slaughtered come from two sources: cull
dairy and beef cows and bulls that are used primarily for ground and processed beef products (and
represent less meat per animal than the regional average); and young steers and heifers, slaughtered
at less than 2 years of age, that have been fed grains and oilseed rations for the last 6 months of their
lives.
East and South East Asia produce about ten percent of the world’s meat with about 19 percent of
the bovines. Buffalo are still important for on-farm work in South East Asia and animals slaughtered
have relatively little meat compared to the world average. Finally, Africa has about nine percent of
beef production and 12 percent of slaughter.
International trade in bovine meat accounts for about 14 percent of production. Big exporting
regions include South America, Oceania, and North America. The big importing regions are East
and Southeast Asia, North America, Europe, and Africa. The United States is a major importer of
ground beef and a major exporter of muscle cuts of beef. Africa is a major importer of lower-priced
bovine meat, some of it from India, which is a major exporter. Overall, high income regions account
for about 40 percent of bovine meat production and 45 percent of exports. Australia, New Zealand,
the United States, Uruguay, Brazil, and India are major exporters. Individual countries that are
major importers of bovine meat include China, Japan, Korea, Egypt, United States, and Russia.

reFereNCeS

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2017. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QV.
United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. 2017. https://data.ers.usda.gov/reports.
aspx?ID=17830.
United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. 2017. http://nass.usda.gov/.
http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/est/COMM_MARKETS_MONITORING/Dairy/Documents/FO_
Dairy_June_2016.pdf.