Poland’s average meat consumption is forecast to increase to 71 kilograms (kg) per capita in 2014, a rise of some 3.5kg compared with a year earlier, according to figures released by the country’s Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics (IERiGZ).
Moreover, Poland’s meat consumption is expected to expand further next year. In 2015, the state-run institute forecasts that an average Pole will consume 72kg of meat.
The increased meat consumption is mostly due to the higher demand for pork meat in the Polish market. In 2013, an average Pole consumed 35.5kg of pork meat. This year, the average consumption is set to expand to 38.5kg per capita, and to 39kg per capita in 2015, according to data from the IERiGZ.
Dariusz Formela, chief executive of Polish meat processor PKM Duda, told local business daily Rzeczpospolita that the increase in demand for pork meat in the Polish market was a result of its lower prices.
IERiGZ says that, in September 2014, pork meat prices were about 4% lower than at the end of 2013. The prices are expected to remain at a similar level by the end of 2014.
Figures from the institute suggested that the higher demand for poultry meat in Poland was another reason behind the higher consumption of meat in the local market. In 2014, Poland’s average consumption of poultry meat is forecasted to total 26.9kg per capita, and 27.2kg per capita in 2015.
Meanwhile, beef meat consumption in the Polish market is lagging behind pork and poultry meat, with the average consumption forecasted to total only 1.6kg per capita this year, and 1.7kg in 2015. This will, however, represent an increase compared with 2013, in which an average Pole consumed 1.5 kg of beef, according to the institute.