Switzerland's Meat Imports Rise Significantly

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) The meat supply in Switzerland increased by 3.9% year-on-year to over 453,000 tonnes in 2024. Imports increased significantly. Domestic production, on the other hand, fell, account for 79.6% of meat supply. This content was published on March 20, 2025 - 15:17 2 minutes Keystone-SDA

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In the previous year, the proportion of Swiss meat was 82.9%, as the meat industry association Proviande announced on Thursday. In terms of types of meat, Proviande recorded the strongest growth in poultry at 9.1%. This is in line with the long-term trend, with both domestic production and imports increasing.

Beef was also in higher demand, with an increase of 2.8%. Both imports and domestic production increased. Growth in pork was more moderate at 1.8%. Domestic production fell by 3.1%, while imports increased by 40%.

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The supply of lamb and sheep meat fell by 2.2% due to lower domestic production. The supply of horsemeat fell by 5.7% and game by the same percentage.

Per capita supply made up for the dip in 2023. While the resident population grew by 0.9%, per capita meat supply rose by 2.9% in 2024.

Proviande also points out that the supply of meat does not correspond to meat consumption. Instead, the statistics show the amount of ready-to-sell meat that was available to the catering and retail sectors, among others.

According to the national consumption study, only 75-80% of the meat on offer is actually eaten by the population. The rest is accounted for by bones, fat trimmings, food for dogs and cats and food waste.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

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