South Africa’s rising income has been accompanied by a significant increase in per capita meat consumption. Poultry meat accounts for most of the growth. Per capita poultry consumption has more than doubled from 17 kilograms in 1994-95 to 40 in in the 2013-14 marketing year and remains dominant over other meats, even though consumption of other meats has remained constant.
South Africa’s real per capita income has maintained almost uninterrupted growth since 2000, only dropping in 2009 with the global recession. The initial surge in poultry consumption in the early 2000’s closely tracks the rapid rise in per capita income. While domestic production of poultry has expanded rapidly to accommodate demand, imports have grown at an even faster rate.
The chart below appears in the ERS Poultry Production and Trade in the Republic of South Africa: a Look at Alternative Trade Policy Scenarios and was released in November 2016.
