When you go to the supermarket or look at the menu in a restaurant, you may have noticed that there are more green options now than in the past. What was once a fringe minority has now become the diet of choice for many Europeans, with more and more people abstaining from meat and adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet (between 2 and 10% of the total population, according to Meat Atlas), while the continent leads the way for meat substitutes with 39% of global sales.
Is vegetarianism and veganism really increasing in the world?
The numbers. Although Europeans continue to be among the world’s largest meat consumers, the environmental impact of meat and dairy production has made consumers more aware of the health and ethical impact of their diet. The 512 million EU citizens represent 6.8% of the world’s population, but are responsible for 16% of total world meat consumption. The amount of meat per capita consumed by Europeans was 69.3kg in 2018, but that figure is expected to drop to 68.6kg by 2030, according to the EU’s agricultural outlook report.
One of the factors behind this projected decline is the increase in the EU’s vegetarian population, who abstain from eating meat, and vegans, who completely avoid all animal products. Looking at a set of different studies, Europe has seen a significant increase in vegetarians and vegans in recent years.
The evolution. A decade ago, the number of vegetarians in Sweden was 270,000 (3% of the population), while that number has recently increased to 10%. In Germany it went from 9% to 11% in four years. In the UK, a YouGov poll shows that 5% described themselves as vegetarian; 3% as pescetarian, and 2% as vegan. Together, they add up to 10%. Another 16% described themselves as flexitarians, who only occasionally eat meat or fish. In a US Gallup poll, 5% of US adults identified as vegetarian and 2% as vegan.
Italy: tradition vs change. Another country that has many traditional dishes based on meat or cheese is Italy. Many of them have also become famous abroad, such as carbonara, pasta al ragu, caprese and, of course, pizza. But like Germany, Italy has seen a rise in vegetarian and vegan people. According to Eurispes, a private Italian institute, almost 1 in 10 people in Italy is now vegetarian or vegan, corresponding to 8.2% of the population. This percentage is in line with the growing trend that began in 2014, when it amounted to only 7.5%.
The situation in France. Things are quite different in other Mediterranean countries like France and Spain. According to Le Monde, a study carried out by the IFOP Institute in 2020 revealed that a quarter of French people claim to limit their meat consumption, but few have stopped eating it. 79% of French people still think that meat is necessary to stay healthy, although 68% believe that people in the country eat too much, considering health and/or the environment.
The Spanish are also very attached to meat. In July of this year, the Spanish Minister of Consumer Affairs, Alberto Garzón, launched a campaign to invite people to reduce their meat consumption. He stated that Spain eats more meat than any other country in the EU, highlighting the incredible amount of resources such as water needed to produce such an amount. He was harshly criticized, including by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, who also had the support of the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and also faced criticism from six associations of meat producers.
In 2019, a report by the consulting firm Lantern showed that only 0.5% of the Spanish population was vegan and 1.5% vegetarian, which was a total increase of 27% compared to the previous year.
Age is the key. When we look at survey results by age, we see that younger people are more likely to identify as vegetarian. In the breakdown of responses from the UK, one in five 18-24 year olds described a diet that did not contain meat. 10% were vegetarians, 4% pescetarians and 5% vegans. Another 20% were flexitarians. You only have to compare it with the oldest group (those over 65), where only a small percentage were vegetarian and a small percentage pescetarian, to understand the trend.
This finding that younger people are more likely to identify as vegetarian or vegan is consistent with results from other countries. Surveys in the US and other countries show the same result. On average across the 28 countries included in the 2018 Ipsos survey, 6% of those under 35 reported being vegetarian, compared to 3% of those over 35.
What pushes people to make that decision? According to the same study, the main reason is respect for animals and the planet. It is widely recognized that farm animals produce a large part of the total greenhouse gases which, of course, have massive consequences on both the environment and the climate. This is why a vegan diet is considered the most impactful action one could take to reduce our carbon footprint.
The vegan market, growing. A new study by the Smart Protein Project and ProVeg International reveals the growth of the European vegan market in the last two years: 49%, reaching a total of 3.6 billion euros in sales. Plant-based milk sales lead the sector in most EU countries, with oat milk in particular showing the highest growth rate of all. Vegan meat sales are the second highest; The German vegetable protein sector alone grew by 226%, reaching €181 million in sales.