Meat & Livestock Australia’s annual global market snapshots provide insights into where the volume and value were distributed to in 2024, and analyses the drivers of demand in each market.
The snapshot reports are collated by MLA to illustrate the competitive advantages and growth opportunities for Australian red meat across the world.
Covering 14 markets for beef, lamb and mutton, the snapshots provide industry stakeholders access to topline insights on consumer demographics, perceptions, retail and foodservice trends, as well as key export statistics, analysis and updates on trade access and the competitive landscape.
MLA Global Market Insights manager Miho Kondo said the market snapshots provided the latest data and insights for Australia’s red meat industry.
“Understanding our target consumers and market dynamics is a key factor in understanding which products will deliver higher returns in particular sectors and segments,” Ms Kondo said.
Key insights
The United States was the largest importer of Australian red meat by volume last year, importing 394,716 tonnes of beef and 85,133 tonnes of lamb.
Australian beef helped to fill a hole left by a domestic supply shortage of local product.
“American consumers are some of the largest consumers of red meat in the world, but the American cattle herd reached a more than seven-decade low following years of drought – this created opportunities for imported beef suppliers such as Australia,” Ms Kondo said.
“The US was also the largest market for lamb, with more restaurants ... adopting lamb to cater to growing interest in lamb when dining out.”
Japan was the second largest beef export market for Australia in 2024. However, the proportion of lower value products increased.
“Despite the challenges, Australia has benefited from softened competition from the US, increasing our market share in the Japanese imported beef market,” Ms Kondo said.
Australian red meat exports to mainland China rebounded after a slow start in 2024, with Chinese consumers more cautious in their discretionary spending.
China remained the largest market for Australian mutton, taking 95,622 tonnes in 2024.
Australian beef exports to Korea were strong in 2024, triggering the beef safeguard volume earlier than usual.
A significantly larger proportion of Australian red meat was shipped to destinations outside of the top three markets (US, China and Japan) in 2024 (47 per cent versus 41 per cent in 2019), driven by the young, expanding and increasingly affluent consumer base in regions such as the Middle East and South-East Asia.
For more, go to the MLA website.
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