Meat — Food in South Africa
South Africa: Meat — Food was 3,683 1000 t in 2023. ▲ Rising
Meat — Food in South Africa, 2010–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 t.
Analysis
In 2023, meat — food in South Africa stood at 3,683 1000 t.
That represents a change of down 1.8% on the previous year and up 9.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, meat — food in South Africa peaked at 3,828 1000 t in 2020 and was at its lowest, 3,028 1000 t, in 2010.
That places South Africa 18th out of 164 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 14 years of available data.
Meat — Food in South Africa, year by year
| Year | 1000 t | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 3,028 1000 t | — |
| 2011 | 3,132 1000 t | +3.4% |
| 2012 | 3,186 1000 t | +1.7% |
| 2013 | 3,369 1000 t | +5.7% |
| 2014 | 3,504 1000 t | +4.0% |
| 2015 | 3,514 1000 t | +0.3% |
| 2016 | 3,650 1000 t | +3.9% |
| 2017 | 3,570 1000 t | -2.2% |
| 2018 | 3,728 1000 t | +4.4% |
| 2019 | 3,734 1000 t | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 3,828 1000 t | +2.5% |
| 2021 | 3,810 1000 t | -0.5% |
| 2022 | 3,749 1000 t | -1.6% |
| 2023 | 3,683 1000 t | -1.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 3,442 1000 t | 3,028 1000 t | 3,734 1000 t | 10 |
| 2020s | 3,768 1000 t | 3,683 1000 t | 3,828 1000 t | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More agriculture & rural data for South Africa
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 7.11 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0283 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 186.56 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 0.812 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.3618 units per person (2025)
- Agriculture share gdp 2.83 (2025)
- Value added in the agricultural sector as of gdp vs gdp per capita 2.83 (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.0% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.0% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is meat — food in South Africa?
- Meat — food in South Africa was 3,683 1000 t in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest meat — food recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 3,828 1000 t in 2020.
- What is the lowest meat — food recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 3,028 1000 t in 2010.
- How does South Africa rank for meat — food?
- South Africa ranks 18th out of 164 countries with data for 2023.
- Is meat — food rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Meat — Food. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
A food balance sheet presents a comprehensive picture of the pattern of a country's food supply during a specified reference period. The food balance sheet shows for each food item - i.e. each primary commodity and a number of processed commodities potentially available for human consumption - the sources of supply and its utilization. The total quantity of foodstuffs produced in a country added to the total quantity imported and adjusted to any change in stocks that may have occurred since the beginning of the reference period gives the supply available during that period. On the utilization side a distinction is made between the quantities exported, fed to livestock, used for seed, put to manufacture for food use and non-food uses, losses during storage and transportation, and food supplies available for human consumption. The per caput supply of each such food item available for human consumption is then obtained by dividing the respective quantity by the related data on the population actually partaking of it. Data on per capita food supplies are expressed in terms of quantity and - by applying appropriate food composition factors for all primary and processed products - also in terms of caloric value and protein and fat content.