German meat consumption rises again

German meat consumption rose again in 2025. Chicken showed the largest increase, but more than half of consumption still consists of pork. Meat consumption in Germany continued to increase in 2025. According to preliminary figures from the Bundesinformationszentrum Landwirtschaft (BZL), consumers ate an average of 54.9 kilos of meat per person. That is an increase of 1.4 kilos compared with a year earlier. This continues the trend of the past three years, with rising meat consumption. The level is still clearly below that of 2011, when consumption amounted to 63.8 kilos per person. The strongest growth is visible in poultry meat. With average consumption of 14.7 kilos per person, a new record was reached in 2025. This underlines a shift in consumer behaviour towards lighter types of meat. More beef eaten Despite this shift, pork remains by far the most important type of meat in Germany. Consumption amounted to an average of 28.3 kilos per person, accounting for almost 52% of total meat demand. Consumption of beef and veal also rose slightly. Despite higher consumer prices, consumption increased by more than 200 grams to 9.7 kilos per person. By contrast, domestic meat production is not keeping pace with consumption. In 2025, total production fell slightly by 0.3% to 7.3 million tons. Beef production in particular came under pressure, with a decline of around 6% due to fewer slaughters. Poultry meat production remained just below the 2024 level at 1.5 million tons, partly due to the impact of bird flu. Pork production, by contrast, showed a slight increase of 1.1%. This is related to a stable number of animals and a higher average slaughter weight. To meet rising demand, imports of meat and meat products increased. In 2025, imports rose by almost 11% to 3.6 million tons. Growth was especially seen in beef, poultry and lamb meat.