Where does the world's meat and milk come from?

Livestock, meat & dairy covers beef, cheese, chicken, eggs, honey, lamb, milk, pork. What moves them together: Feed grain costs, animal disease outbreaks, herd cycles, trade access and sanitary rules, consumer demand in China.

What stands out across livestock, meat & dairy?

Among the 8 commodities in livestock, meat & dairy with a production ranking, supply is most concentrated in pork, where China produced 46% of the world total in 2024, and least concentrated in chicken, where the largest producer, the United States, produced 16% in 2024. China is the largest producer of 4 of the 8. In 8 of them the largest producer is not the largest exporter by value, as for beef, where the United States produced 18% and Brazil led exports of frozen beef (HS 0202) with 27%. Production years differ by commodity and sources are FAOSTAT, USGS or the Energy Institute; exports are CEPII BACI trade records.

In the twelve months to September 2026, 2 of 4 priced commodities in this category had a higher benchmark price, with the largest rise for lamb (+16%) and the largest fall for milk (-6.6%). These are monthly benchmark series in their own units, from the World Bank Pink Sheet, IMF or other sources named on each price page, and a twelve-month change says nothing about what comes next.

Commodities in this category

Livestock, meat & dairy commodities with top producers and latest prices
Commodity	Top producers	Latest price	12 months
Beef Meat from cattle, sold chilled or frozen, as carcasses, primal cuts or boxed trimmings.	Share of world beef production: United States 18%, Brazil 15%, China 10%, Rest of world 58%. United States 18%, Brazil 15%, China 10% (2024)	$6.86/kg Australia/New Zealand, CIF US ports	-1%
Cheese Milk concentrated by coagulation and ageing, the form in which most traded dairy protein and fat moves.	Share of world cheese production: United States 28%, Germany 10%, France 7.5%, Rest of world 54%. United States 28%, Germany 10%, France 8% (2023)	—	—
Chicken Meat from broiler chickens, the world's fastest-growing source of animal protein.	Share of world chicken production: United States 16%, China 12%, Brazil 11%, Rest of world 62%. United States 16%, China 12%, Brazil 11% (2024)	$1.81/kg US Gulf ports, broiler cuts	+4%
Eggs Hen eggs in shell, produced close to where they are eaten because they are fragile and perishable.	Share of world eggs production: China 35%, India 9.1%, Indonesia 7.4%, Rest of world 49%. China 35%, India 9%, Indonesia 7% (2024)	—	—
Honey Nectar concentrated by honeybees, sold by floral source and increasingly tested for adulteration.	Share of world honey production: China 24%, India 7.9%, Turkey 5.2%, Rest of world 63%. China 24%, India 8%, Turkey 5% (2024)	—	—
Lamb Meat from sheep, sold as lamb (under a year old) or mutton, and traded mostly frozen.	Share of world lamb production: China 23%, India 11%, Australia 8%, Rest of world 58%. China 23%, India 11%, Australia 8% (2024)	$7.26/kg New Zealand, frozen carcass, wholesale London	+16%
Milk Raw cow's milk, most of it drunk or processed close to where it is produced; only powders, butter and cheese travel far.	Share of world milk production: India 17%, United States 13%, China 5.2%, Rest of world 65%. India 17%, United States 13%, China 5% (2024)	$19.66/cwt Milk, USDA Class III spot, United States	-7%
Pork Meat from pigs, the most eaten meat in China and the European Union and the most sensitive to disease outbreaks.	Share of world pork production: China 46%, United States 10%, Brazil 4.3%, Rest of world 40%. China 46%, United States 10%, Brazil 4% (2024)	—	—

Price index since 1960

Other food index

Source: World Bank Commodity Price Data (The Pink Sheet), monthly indices, 2010 = 100, published 2026-10-02. CC BY 4.0.

Indices are monthly averages and lag the market; informational only, not investment advice.

Which livestock, meat & dairy prices move together?

Within livestock, meat & dairy, beef and lamb are the most closely linked: their monthly price changes correlate at 0.09. Correlation of monthly log price changes (not price levels), computed only over pairs with at least 90 overlapping months, the same method as the site-wide linked-prices report and the correlation calculator — this view is scoped to livestock, meat & dairy alone, which the site-wide report's top pairs rarely include.

Green: prices that rise and fall together. Brown: prices that move in opposite directions. Thicker and darker lines are stronger correlations.

Data updated 22 October 2026.