plate 085 · 2025 data

China buys three in ten of the world's beef imports

Beef and veal imports by country, thousand tonnes carcass weight, 2025 vs 2022.

Who feeds the world
  1. 1. Brazil has all but caught the US in farm exports
  2. 2. Brazil exports more chicken than the US and EU combined
  3. 3. India now ships over a third of world rice exports
  4. 4. Russia now exports twice as much wheat as the US
  5. 5. Egypt exports more fresh oranges than any other country
  6. 6. China buys three in ten of the world's beef imports
  7. 7. Farmed seafood now outweighs the wild catch
  8. 8. Spanish olive oil mill prices are back at 2021 levels
  9. 9. Ukraine sells a fifth less grain than before the war
  10. 10. Brazil overtook the US as the world's top cotton exporter
  11. 11. Laos now mines more potash than Israel or Jordan
  12. 12. India now grows more rice than China
  13. 13. Côte d'Ivoire grows more cashews than India
  14. 14. Indonesia set to use more palm oil than it exports
  15. 15. Mato Grosso grows more soy than China and India combined
  16. 16. Africa now has more hungry people than Asia
30.6%

China imported 3.66 Mt of the world's 11.95 Mt of beef imports in 2025.

More than US + Japan

China bought more beef abroad than the next two importers combined (3.14 Mt).

+59%

US imports jumped from 1.54 Mt in 2022 to 2.44 Mt in 2025, the fastest rise among big buyers.

Source: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade (October 2026), Beef and Veal Trade table, 2025
the numbers & method
China buys three in ten of the world's beef imports. Source: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade (October 2026), Beef and Veal Trade table, 2025.
Imports (kt)2022 (grey bar) (kt)Share of world (%)2022 (grey bar) (%)
China3,6573,50130.634.2
United States2,4441,53820.515.0
Japan6957775.87.6
South Korea5865954.95.8
European Union4623723.93.6
United Kingdom3964003.33.9
Chile3563493.03.4
Russia3302952.82.9
Canada3142142.62.1
Philippines2822562.42.5
Egypt2652702.22.6

Claim types Fact

Carcass weight equivalent. Shares are progrss calculations from USDA's world import total (11,945 kt in 2025; 10,227 kt in 2022). USDA counts China excluding Hong Kong; EU external trade only. USDA forecasts China at 3.60 Mt in 2026 and notes a new Chinese tariff-rate quota on beef imports. Saudi Arabia is not listed separately by USDA.

Published 3 Nov 2026

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