The meat production in Mexico reached 7.8 million tons at the end of 2022, an annual increase of 2.6%, reported this Thursday the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader).
The meat industry in the country represented 2% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the agricultural sector last year and generated 82,474 jobs, the government agency stated in a statement.
At the inauguration of the 13th International Meat Congress 2023, organized by the Mexican Association of Meat Producers (AMEG)the head of Sader, Víctor Villalobos, explained that, in 2022, Mexicans consumed a total of 9.8 million tons of meat.
This amount of consumption represented an increase of 3.1% compared to 2021, while the origins of the meat range from beef, pork or chicken, to turkey, sheep and goat.
Villalobos specified that, although meat consumption has grown, production has done so.
However, national production only supplied 73.6% of the demand and the remaining 26.4% came from other nations.
Regarding exports, the Mexican official highlighted that the Mexican meat industry exceeded 540,000 tons last year, which meant an annual advance of 1.3% compared to 2021.
Villalobos specified that all imports are also inspected by personnel from the National Service of Health, Safety and Food Quality (Senasica) at ports of entry, as well as strict protocols that do not affect the competitiveness and profitability of the sector.
In addition, the Mexican Secretary of Agriculture emphasized the need for the production and consumption of meat in the country to go hand in hand with caring for the environment and natural resources.
In this regard, he also accepted that Mexico is aware of the contributions of greenhouse gases generated by livestock activity.
Therefore, he stressed that work is being done in coordination with academia, companies, organizations and citizens, to reduce the carbon footprint.
We see our sector as part of the solution and not of the problem of climate change”,
held.
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