China’s beef demand poised for smallest growth in a decade, USDA says

BEEF consumption in China – the world’s No 2 market – is set to rise next year by the least in a decade as its economy slows, according to the latest report from the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), bucking a streak of exponential demand growth for the premium meat.

China is seen to consume 11.712 million tons of beef in 2025, up 0.25 per cent from this year’s forecast, as a sustained economic downturn puts pressure “on the hotel, restaurant, and catering industries as well as on retail operations that market beef,” FAS said in the report.

Demand for low-end beef is seen to grow amid a “consumption downgrading,” as catering and institutional food operations use lower-priced or lower-value cuts, it said. 

Economic headwinds will also curb China’s intake of pork, the country’s favourite meat, according to FAS, adding to the bleak growth outlook of the world’s second-largest economy.

China’s pork consumption is expected to fall 2 per cent in 2025, according to FAS, as a slew of negative economic factors seen in 2024 – such as high unemployment rates, restaurant closures in smaller cities and austere measures for official and business banquets – continue to impact demand.

Still, shifts in dietary habits are the main factor pushing down pork consumption, it added. BLOOMBERG