Beef: Movement
How China became the world's biggest beef buyer
How China became the world's biggest beef buyer What this tab covers How it flows between countries: the largest bilateral trade routes drawn on a world map, 2024 UN Comtrade export and import values with the top exporters and importers by share, plus shipping routes, chokepoints and trade restrictions.Comtrade shows $36.0 billion of frozen bovine meat (HS 0202) exported in 2024. Brazil leads with 28.0%, then Australia (16.2%), the United States (13.0%), India (9.7%, mostly buffalo meat), New Zealand and Argentina. On the import side China dominates at 39.1%, ahead of the United States (14.8%), South Korea and Japan. Geman notes that US livestock markets are far more domestic than grain (pdf p. 171). Refrigerated shipping opened this trade in the 1880s (Morgan, pdf p. 72). Disease bans and sanitary approvals decide market access as much as tariffs do.
Main trade routes, 2024
Chart: World map of the largest trade flows
Exporter (size = share of world exports) Importer (share of world imports) Largest bilateral flows (width = value) Shipping chokepoint UN Comtrade 2024, reported exports by the top four exporters of each traded form to their partners (US$). Bubbles: shares of reported world exports and imports for the main traded form. Hover a line or circle for values.