According to the US Department of Agriculture, global beef production and consumption has not fluctuated much since 2018 (despite the Covid 19 pandemic period). It amounted to the following in recent years:
| 2018: | production 57.73 million tonnes, | consumption: 55.45 million tonnes |
| 2019: | production 58.65 million tonnes, | consumption: 56.37 million tonnes |
| 2020: | production 57.74 million tonnes, | consumption: 56.12 million tonnes |
| 2021: | production 58.13 million tonnes, | consumption: 56.60 million tonnes |
The global beef market is facing an overproduction of 1 to 2 million tonnes between 2018 and 2021.
The largest overproduction relative to consumption among the leading beef producers is in:
| Brazil: | 2,..54 million tonnes |
| India: | 1.47 million tonnes |
| Australia: | 1.46 million tonnes |
| Argentina: | 0.69 million tonnes |
| Kanda: | 0.36 million tonnes |
| EU-27: | 0.35 million tonnes |
The largest shortfall – greater consumption than beef production – is in China at -3.13 million tonnes.
Source: Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade, United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service, April 8, 2022