Vietnam ranks 6th in the Top 10 countries consuming the most pork in the world.

From 30 kg of pork/person/year in 2021 to about 33.8 kg/person/year in 2023, Vietnam ranks 6th in the 10 countries with the highest pork consumption in the world .

The information was shared by Mr. Pham Kim Dang - Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry at the Conference on promoting sustainable pig farming development by Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held on the morning of August 14, in Hanoi .

Vietnamese consumers increase pork consumption

According to the report of the Department of Animal Husbandry, citing data from the US Department of Agriculture, in 2021, 2022 and 2023, Vietnam ranked 6th among the countries with the highest market share of pork production in the world, accounting for 2.4% (2021), 2.5% (2022) and 3% (2023) of total global pork production. Among the 10 largest pork consuming countries in the world, Vietnam ranked 6th with a pork consumption/production ratio of 105.4% (domestic pork production only meets 95% of pork consumption demand).

Consumers buy pork at Nghia Tan market (Cau Giay district, Hanoi). Photo by Nguyen Hanh

Pork consumption per capita in Vietnam in recent years has gradually increased, specifically: In 2021, about 30 kg of pork per person per year, in 2022, about 32 kg of pork per person per year, and in 2023, about 33.8 kg of pork per person per year.

From small-scale, self-sufficient pig farming in the past, in 2023 Vietnam was known as the country with the 5th largest pig farming industry in terms of head and 6th in meat output. According to USDA, China currently accounts for 48%, EU 20%, US 11%, Brazil 4%, Russia 4%, Vietnam 3%.

In recent times, the growth of Vietnam's pig herd has fluctuated greatly in terms of total herd and output. According to data from the General Statistics Office, in the period 2019 - 2023, the pig herd (excluding sow piglets) although decreased due to the impact of African swine fever but has gradually recovered to the level before the outbreak.

In 2023, pig farming will develop stably in the context of household farming shifting strongly to semi-industrial farming, linking with businesses; farm farming in chains, bio-safety, disease safety and increased application of advanced technology.

Therefore, by the end of 2023, the total pig herd will reach 25.5 million (not including about 4 million piglets), an increase of 4.2% over the same period in 2022. 2023 is the year with the highest number of pig heads in the past 5 years and the growth rate in pig heads will reach an average of 6.0%/year in the period 2019 - 2023.

The structure of pork in Vietnam's livestock farming is higher than the world average.

According to According to the General Statistics Office, the total number of pigs in the country as of the end of June 2024 is estimated to reach 25,549.2 thousand, an increase of about 2.9% over the same period in 2023. The growth rate of the pig herd in the first months of 2024 is only lower than that of the first quarter of 2023 and is equivalent to the months of the second and fourth quarters of 2023 at the same time.

According to statistics, in the period of 2019 - 2023, the livestock structure of our country is as follows: pig farming accounts for 60 - 64%; poultry 28 - 29% (of which, colored chickens 11%, white chickens 11%, geese, ducks 7%) and the rest are buffalo, cows, goats, sheep (accounting for 9%). Meanwhile, the structure of world meat production in 2022, pork accounts for 41%, poultry meat 37% and buffalo and beef meat (22%). Thus, Vietnam's pork structure is about 20% higher than the world average.

According to Mr. Pham Kim Dang, Vietnam is shifting strongly towards the trend of reducing small-scale farming in households and increasing professional farming households and large-scale farms. In the past 5 years, the rate of household farming has decreased by 5-7%/year, and in 2019-2022 alone, small-scale farming facilities decreased by 15-20%. Currently, the output of pigs produced in small-scale farms has decreased to 35-40%; the output of pigs produced in professional households and farms accounts for 60-65%. The structure of pork supply in 2022 and 2023 shows that domestic enterprises only account for about 19%, households account for 38%, and enterprises FDI 43%.

Large domestic livestock enterprises (such as Dabaco, Masan, Tan Long, Thien Thuan Truong, Mavin, Greenfeed, Truong Hai, Hoa Phat...) and foreign ones (CP, Japfa Comfeed, New Hope, CJ, Emivest, Cargill...) are building and gradually forming a chain-linked farm system. This is the step to shift the livestock structure to gradually modernize. livestock industry

Structure of pork supply in livestock farming types in Vietnam in 2022 - 2023

The growth value of the livestock industry in 2023 is estimated at 5.72%, reaching a revenue of over 33 billion USD for the whole industry, contributing 26% to the agricultural GDP and over 5% of our country's GDP. In particular, pig farming is still the main livestock sector, accounting for over 62% of the total output of live weight meat of all livestock produced domestically.

In the first 6 months of 2024, the epidemic was basically controlled, imports were tightened, smuggling prevention and control were strengthened, exports were promoted, livestock product prices increased above production costs to attract herd restoration, so the total pig herd maintained a good growth rate (the pig herd increased by 3% compared to the same period in 2023).

Pig farming in Vietnam is identified as a key and important industry that has been gradually shifting from small-scale farming to concentrated, commodity, large-scale farming. There are more and more models of concentrated farming and forming livestock value chains.

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