{"id":488249,"date":"2026-05-16T21:03:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T21:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/488249\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T21:03:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T21:03:21","slug":"argentinas-beef-consumption-falls-to-lowest-level-in-20-years-as-prices-soar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/488249\/","title":{"rendered":"Argentina’s beef consumption falls to lowest level in 20 years as prices soar"},"content":{"rendered":"

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — At 6 a.m., in the Mataderos neighborhood of Buenos Aires<\/a>, workers unload sides of beef from a truck outside a butcher shop as customers line up for wholesale purchases. Inside, 73-year-old owner Jorge Garc\u00eda and his staff prepare meat orders before dawn.<\/p>\n

Among the stacks of beef boxes and red meat cuts hanging from metal hooks, chicken and pork are increasingly present.<\/p>\n

Red meat consumption in Argentina \u2014 historically one of the world\u2019s biggest consumers of beef \u2014 has fallen to its lowest level in two decades amid economic austerity measures imposed by libertarian President Javier Milei<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As of April 2026, annual per capita beef consumption fell to 44.5 kilograms (98 pounds), down from 49.5 kilograms (109 pounds) during the same month a year earlier, according to the Agricultural Foundation for Argentina\u2019s Development. In 2006, it was 63.4 kilos (139 pounds) per person.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are switching to cheaper proteins. They\u2019re eating pork, they\u2019re eating chicken,\u201d said Garc\u00eda.<\/p>\n

Analysts attribute the decline to soaring beef prices, lower cattle supply and weakened household purchasing power<\/a>. The opening of Argentina\u2019s beef market to international trade has also pushed domestic prices closer to global levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeef moved into a completely different purchasing-power category. Workers\u2019 wages fell far behind,\u201d said Juampi Quintero, 25, a meat distributor who estimated consumption among his clients has fallen by more than half.<\/p>\n

Since coming into office in December 2023 with an annual inflation at 211%, Milei promised to eliminate what he called \u201cthe cancer of inflation\u201d through an adjustment plan that included cuts equivalent to nearly one-third of public spending, symbolized by the image of a chain saw<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The government succeeded in reversing the fiscal deficit and achieving a budget surplus \u2014 a rare result in Argentina\u2019s recent history \u2014 but the social cost of the austerity measures<\/a> has drawn criticism.<\/p>\n

Within months, Milei\u2019s administration eliminated 13 ministries, laid off about 30,000 public employees, halted public works projects and reduced funding for key areas such as education, healthcare and science, while also cutting subsidies for basic services such as electricity, gas, water and transportation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat affects household income because families now have to pay more for services that were previously subsidized by the state,\u201d said economist Camilo Tiscornia. \u201cAs a result, they have less disposable income and must give up certain more expensive goods, such as beef.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, household incomes did not rise at the same pace as beef prices, helping drive down consumption.<\/p>\n

Wages for registered workers increased an average of 1.8% in February, the latest available data, compared with monthly inflation of 2.9%.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore, I had the freedom to buy what I wanted,\u201d said Alberto Brajin, a 61-year-old retiree who runs a streetside barbecue stall in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n

Brajin said he now has to \u201ctrade down\u201d to cheaper proteins such as chicken.<\/p>\n

Beef prices rose more than 60% over the past year, reaching an average of 18,500 pesos ($13) per kilogram in Buenos Aires in May, according to the Argentine Beef Promotion Institute.<\/p>\n

In July 2025, Milei\u2019s government reduced export taxes on beef and poultry and removed production quotas to encourage overseas sales, reversing part of the restrictions imposed under former President Alberto Fern\u00e1ndez to curb rising domestic prices. The easing of export regulations came just as Argentina’s beef production dropped by more than 10 percent due to floods and droughts, according to CICCRA, the nonprofit organization that represents Argentina\u2019s beef producers.<\/p>\n

Argentina\u2019s government said this week that beef exports rose 54% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, totaling nearly 200,000 tons worth more than $1 billion. The increase followed a U.S. decision earlier this year to expand Argentina\u2019s tariff-free beef quota<\/a> amid American cattle shortages<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With the market opening up, producers began selling beef \u2014 once affordable across much of Argentina\u2019s social spectrum \u2014 at prices closer to international levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cPreviously, all meats had similar prices, which encouraged high beef consumption that did not reflect its real production costs,\u201d agricultural consultant Iv\u00e1n Ord\u00f3\u00f1ez explained.<\/p>\n

As beef becomes increasingly expensive for many Argentine families, chicken and pork are gaining ground as cheaper alternatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve chosen to buy pork and chicken because beef is too expensive,\u201d said shop owner Ruth Simon.<\/p>\n

Chicken costs an average of 4,900 pesos ($3.50) per kilogram, while pork ribs cost around 8,900 pesos ($6.30).<\/p>\n

Garc\u00eda, the butcher shop owner, said he began selling chicken and pork less than a year ago after noticing changes in customers\u2019 eating habits.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to adapt,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can\u2019t just sit around crying. No crying. We have to work. We have to keep our dignity. We have to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — At 6 a.m., in the Mataderos neighborhood of Buenos Aires, workers unload sides of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[174],"tags":[2567,79,1903,179,18,3334,19,185,10850,17,3475,66],"class_list":["post-488249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-agriculture","tag-business","tag-consumer-prices","tag-economy","tag-eire","tag-general-news","tag-ie","tag-inflation","tag-international-trade","tag-ireland","tag-retail-and-wholesale","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116586283192624012","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}