UAE meat imports down 10%

The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Trade has said that meat imports fell 10.2% to US$973 million in 2009, due to the impact of global economic crisis.

The per capita meat consumption in the UAE exceeds the global average by 18-times.

According to Ministry economic analysts, UAE's per capita income of US$50,000, the second highest in the world, and is the key reason for the high meat consumption. On average a family in the country spends US$3,000 per month, 14.2% of which is spent on food, especially on meat and poultry.

Brazil is the largest meat exporter to UAE during the period 2005-09, as its contribution to the UAE grew 213% during the period with a share of 42.5% of the overall market in 2008.