World meat industry news

Agricultural production in Russia in 2018 decreased by 0.6% in comparable prices, as follows from the preliminary data of Rosstat. In actual prices, the issue of the agro-industrial complex amounted to 5.12 trillion rubles, which is 88 million rubles less than the 2017 figures. Thus, the decline was recorded for the first time since 2012, when the agricultural production index decreased by 4.8%. In 2016, growth was 4.8%; in 2017, according to updated data on the results of the agricultural census, - 3.1%.

Negative dynamics was recorded due to crop production, which fell in comparable prices by 2.4%. As the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade explained earlier, the downward trajectory is due to a decrease in the yield of the main agricultural crops in comparison with the previous year. Livestock production in 2018 showed an increase, but compared to the previous year, it slowed down by half. In 2017 the livestock production index was 2.6%, then in 2018 it was 1.3%. The most dynamic, as in the past year, was the pig breeding sector, which grew by 5.5% to 4.8 million tons over the year.  Beef production in the country increased by 2.3% to 2.8 million tons, while the number of cattle continued to decline - by 0.8% to 18.1 million heads. The production of poultry meat last year amounted to 6.7 million tons, which is only 0.7% more than in 2017. Milk production for the year increased by 1.5% to 30.6 million tons. 

The forecast of the socio-economic development of Russia until 2036, published by the Ministry of Economic Development in November, laid the growth of the agro-industrial complex by 1.1% in 2018.