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Date Published: 07/01/2022

Spain is fifth largest exporter of meat in the world

Pork is one of Spain’s biggest income earners

Farmers across Spain were left reeling when controversial Minister of Consumer Affairs Alberto Garzón claimed that macro-farms “pollute the soil, pollute the water and export low-quality meat from abused animals”. The contentious interview could do untold damage to Spain’s meat industry, which generated more than seven billion euros in foreign sales last year.

Spain is now the fifth largest exporter of meat in the world with pork being the star product: in 2020, almost two out of every three euros (62.2%) of what the industry invoiced abroad was for pork products. Asia buys up 37.1% of Spain’s meat, followed by France (11.5%), Portugal (7.7%) and Italy (6.9%).

For its part, Spain exports seven times the amount of meat than it buys abroad.

In addition to pork, this country exports beef (718 million euros in 2021), offal (722 million), poultry (345 million), sheep and goat (242 million) and animal fats (160 million).

Given the amount of income it generates, it is unsurprising that the farming sector feels attacked by Mr Garzón, who had previously raised eyebrows in July 2021 by encouraging Spaniards to consume less meat for the benefit of their health and environmental sustainability. The government has distanced itself from the minister’s comments, claiming that they represent “a personal perception” and not the reality of the Spanish livestock industry.

Spain is now one of the main livestock powers in the EU, with Catalonia and Aragón occupying third and sixth place on the list of European regions with the most pigs. Castilla y León, Andalucía and the Region of Murcia also made the top 20, and Andalucía is already the undisputed leader in terms of goats with 947,000 of these animals in the community.

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