Dietary land use vs. beef consumption, 2009 to 2011

The percentage of global habitable land area needed for agriculture if the total world population was to adopt theaverage diet of any given country versus annual per capita beef consumption. Globally we use approximately 50%of habitable land for agriculture, as shown by the grey horizontal line.

Per capita beef consumption0 kg10 kg20 kg30 kg40 kg50 kgHALF Index (habitable land area)100%50% of habitable land50% of habitable landArgentinaArgentinaCanadaCanadaChinaChinaFranceFranceIndiaIndiaItalyItalyRussiaRussiaSpainSpainUnited StatesUnited StatesWorldWorldAfricaAsiaEuropeNorth AmericaOceaniaSouth America7B7BCircles sized byPopulation(historical)20092011

Data source: HALF Index (Land Use) - Alexander et al. (2016); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2024)Learn more about this data

Note: Figures show beef supply and do not correct for waste at the household level and, so they may not directly reflect the quantity offood consumed by a given individual.

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