Meat is significantly more affordable in America than it is in Europe, where prices are, on average, twice as high, and Asia, where many people can barely afford to buy it at all, says the 2017 meat-price index, released by Caterwings, a UK-based business-to-business catering service.
“Switzerland residents, meanwhile, purchase some of the most expensive meat in the world; beef tenderloin sells for about $29 per pound there, compared to $17 in the U.S.,” says Eater. “Of the 50 countries analyzed in Caterwings’ study (which compiled the prices of beef, chicken, pork, fish, and lamb in the major cities of the top meat-producing countries in the world), the most expensive meat rankings generally teeter between parts of Europe and Asia.”
The reasons for the price differences are complex, ranging from tariffs and trade bans to higher average incomes in places like Switzerland. In Muslim countries, the demand for halal meats can increase labor costs.
In many Asian countries, meat often costs as much as the average citizens earns for several days’ work. Indonesians, for example, “have to work more than 23 hours to afford 2 pounds of beef (almost three times as much as Hong Kong dwellers and nine times as much as Americans). In China, average meat costs are near the global average, but citizens there have to work an average of 19 hours to afford beef, largely imported from the United States,” says Eater.