Tallow Consumption by Country

The United States had the largest listed tallow food supply in 2023, at 301,541 tonnes, accounting for about 39.8 percent of the reported total. China ranked second with 161,302 tonnes, followed by Mexico at 76,174 tonnes. On a per-person basis, Austria ranked first at 6.79 grams a day, narrowly ahead of Paraguay at 6.73 grams. The listed 2023 total was 757,594 tonnes, and 75 of the 80 country rows reported a value for that year, 66 of them above zero. These FAO figures measure food available for human consumption, not the amount people actually ate.

Spain placed fourth by volume at 42,348 tonnes, and the three leading countries together accounted for about 71.2 percent of the listed 2023 total.

• The United States recorded the largest decline by tonnage in the latest year.
• Australia lost more than nine-tenths of its 2022 level.
• Austria recorded the largest listed gain by volume.
• New Zealand more than doubled its reported supply.

Tallow Consumption

Export

Excel (.xlsx) CSV Document PDF Document PNG Image

#	Country	2023 (tonnes)2023	2023 (grams per person per day)2023
1	United States US	301.54K	2.41
2	China CN	161.3K	0.31
3	Mexico MX	76.17K	1.61
4	Spain ES	42.35K	2.42
5	Austria AT	22.64K	6.79
6	Ukraine UA	19.74K	1.43
7	Paraguay PY	16.8K	6.73
8	Switzerland CH	13.69K	4.23
9	Argentina AR	11.86K	0.71
10	Slovakia SK	9.48K	4.71
11	Colombia CO	9.34K	0.49
12	Netherlands NL	9.23K	1.4
13	India IN	8.07K	0.02
14	United Kingdom GB	8.01K	0.32
15	South Africa ZA	6.94K	0.3
16	Chile CL	6.38K	0.89
17	Nepal NP	4.7K	0.43
18	New Zealand NZ	3.54K	1.87
19	Honduras HN	2.55K	0.66
20	France FR	2.42K	0.1
21	Pakistan PK	2.24K	0.02
22	Croatia HR	2.11K	1.48
23	Namibia NA	2.1K	1.94
24	El Salvador SV	1.53K	0.66
25	Bosnia and Herzegovina BA	1.43K	1.23
26	Zimbabwe ZW	1.17K	0.2
27	Cambodia KH	1.12K	0.18
28	Jamaica JM	1.09K	1.05
29	Poland PL	1.02K	0.07
30	Sweden SE	884.7	0.23
31	Iraq IQ	821.5	0.06
32	Australia AU	743.41	0.08
33	Mongolia MN	659	0.53
34	Malaysia MY	495.75	0.04
35	Albania AL	416.25	0.41
36	North Macedonia MK	399.22	0.6
37	South Korea KR	370.47	0.02
38	Thailand TH	365.88	0.01
39	Kenya KE	341.74	0.02
40	Samoa WS	291.64	3.69
41	United Arab Emirates AE	240.37	0.06
42	Malta MT	193.26	0.99
43	Jordan JO	176.59	0.04
44	Montenegro ME	162.77	0.7
45	Afghanistan AF	132.47	0.01
46	Qatar QA	67.74	0.06
47	Turkmenistan TM	60.6	0.02
48	Vanuatu VU	60.04	0.51
49	Guinea GN	48.25	0.01
50	Fiji FJ	43.2	0.13
51	Angola AO	27.05	0
52	Malawi MW	20.02	0
53	Tonga TO	14.44	0.38
54	Hong Kong HK	13.58	0.01
55	Morocco MA	12.85	0
56	Tajikistan TJ	8	0
57	Belize BZ	5.68	0.04
58	Saint Kitts and Nevis KN	1.27	0.07
59	Macau MO	1.21	0
60	Congo CG	1.13	0
61	Bahrain BH	0.27	0
62	Ivory Coast CI	0.09	0
63	Ethiopia ET	0.04	0
64	Maldives MV	0.02	0
65	Mauritius MU	0.01	0
66	New Caledonia NC	0.01	0
67	Bahamas BS	0	0
68	Cameroon CM	0	0
69	French Polynesia PF	0	0
70	Ghana GH	0	0
71	Guinea-Bissau GW	0	0
72	Libya LY	0	0
73	Sri Lanka LK	0	0
74	Syria SY	0	0
75	Yemen YE	0	0

The United States Records the Largest Recent Decline

The United States lost 169,017 tonnes between 2022 and 2023, down 35.9 percent to 301,541 tonnes. Mexico lost 18,342 tonnes, down 19.4 percent, and Australia shed 9,052 tonnes, down 92.4 percent, to 743.41 tonnes. Austria added 6,060 tonnes, up 36.6 percent, Switzerland added 3,069 tonnes, and New Zealand added 1,832 tonnes, up 107.5 percent. The 72 countries with a value in both years fell from 961,429 tonnes to 757,587 tonnes, down 203,842 tonnes, or 21.2 percent, with Belize, New Caledonia and Saint Kitts and Nevis joining the comparison and none leaving it.

China Has the Largest Five-Year Decline Among Major Suppliers

Between 2019 and 2023, the 62 countries with a value in both years fell from 840,174 tonnes to 756,116 tonnes, down 84,058 tonnes, or 10.0 percent. China recorded the largest decline, losing 61,982 tonnes, down 27.8 percent, and Mexico shed 29,453 tonnes, down 27.9 percent. Australia gave up 26,651 tonnes, down 97.3 percent. The United States added 51,541 tonnes, up 20.6 percent, Switzerland added 8,273 tonnes, and Spain added 7,108 tonnes. Thirteen countries entered the comparison with 2023 values and no 2019 value, while Cuba and Lesotho left it.

Austria Leads in Per-Person Tallow Supply

Austria recorded 6.79 grams a day in 2023, ahead of Paraguay at 6.73 grams in second and Slovakia at 4.71 grams in third. Switzerland sat fourth at 4.23 grams. Austria therefore ranks first per person even though its national total is far below that of the United States, which ranks first by volume.

What the Tallow Data Measures

Tallow available for human consumption is recorded in tonnes and in grams per person per day for each reporting country over 2019-2023. Annual totals sum reporting countries only, and the listed total is not a world figure that includes regional aggregates. Total tonnage shows the scale of reported food supply, while grams per person per day adjust the figures for population size.

Several series change sharply enough to warrant a source check: Australia fell from 9,795 tonnes in 2022 to 743.41 tonnes, Morocco from 3,000 tonnes to 12.85 tonnes, Sweden from 2,970 tonnes to 884.7 tonnes, and the United States from 470,558 tonnes to 301,541 tonnes. South Korea moved the other way, from a reported zero in 2022 to 370.47 tonnes in 2023. Nine countries reported zero tonnes in 2023, including the Bahamas, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Libya. A reported zero is a recorded value and a blank cell is missing data, so neither one on its own shows that availability stopped.

Tallow Consumption by Country

Download

Excel (.xlsx) CSV PDF PNG

#	Country	2019 (t)	2019 (g/cap/d)	2020 (t)	2020 (g/cap/d)	2021 (t)	2021 (g/cap/d)	2022 (t)	2022 (g/cap/d)	2023 (t)	2023 (g/cap/d)
1	United States	250K	2.03	250K	2.02	448.14K	3.61	470.56K	3.77	301.54K	2.41
2	China	223.28K	0.43	214.46K	0.41	216.47K	0.42	161.69K	0.31	161.3K	0.31
3	Mexico	105.63K	2.3	105K	2.27	103.28K	2.22	94.52K	2.01	76.17K	1.61
4	Spain	35.24K	2.04	46.41K	2.67	54.44K	3.12	46.26K	2.65	42.35K	2.42
5	Austria	24.01K	7.41	19.03K	5.84	22.45K	6.86	16.58K	5.01	22.64K	6.79
6	Ukraine	17.73K	1.08	23.78K	1.46	22.34K	1.38	20.01K	1.34	19.74K	1.43
7	Paraguay	11.96K	5.03	12.18K	5.05	16.48K	6.75	17K	6.89	16.8K	6.73
8	Switzerland	5.42K	1.73	5.96K	1.89	9.38K	2.95	10.62K	3.31	13.69K	4.23
9	Argentina	9.47K	0.58	12.38K	0.75	11.38K	0.69	11.31K	0.68	11.86K	0.71
10	Slovakia	7.06K	3.55	10.34K	5.19	11.36K	5.72	9.5K	4.75	9.48K	4.71
11	Colombia	16.83K	0.92	11.07K	0.6	14.2K	0.76	11.09K	0.59	9.34K	0.49
12	Netherlands	8.73K	1.36	8.99K	1.4	9.92K	1.53	9.11K	1.39	9.23K	1.4
13	India	15.62K	0.03	6.21K	0.01	18.91K	0.04	15.54K	0.03	8.07K	0.02
14	United Kingdom	7.12K	0.29	11.78K	0.48	7.76K	0.31	9.78K	0.39	8.01K	0.32
15	South Africa	5.12K	0.24	8.18K	0.37	6.5K	0.29	7.04K	0.31	6.94K	0.3
16	Chile	4.4K	0.63	5.37K	0.76	5.87K	0.83	5.63K	0.79	6.38K	0.89
17	Nepal	12.87K	1.24	3.6K	0.34	4.8K	0.45	3.62K	0.33	4.7K	0.43
18	New Zealand	0	0	0	0	3.84K	2.06	1.71K	0.91	3.54K	1.87
19	Honduras	5.55K	1.53	5.83K	1.58	6.9K	1.84	3.34K	0.87	2.55K	0.66
20	France	2.38K	0.1	2.51K	0.1	2.45K	0.1	2.33K	0.1	2.42K	0.1
21	Pakistan	10.99K	0.13	2.57K	0.03	3.23K	0.04	3.76K	0.04	2.24K	0.02
22	Croatia	769.41	0.53	1.28K	0.89	1.79K	1.25	1.98K	1.39	2.11K	1.48
23	Namibia	499.31	0.52	749.18	0.75	948.36	0.92	1.41K	1.34	2.1K	1.94
24	El Salvador	2.33K	1.03	2K	0.88	2.12K	0.93	1.79K	0.78	1.53K	0.66
25	Bosnia and Herzegovina	766.8	0.63	1.63K	1.35	1.35K	1.14	1.77K	1.51	1.43K	1.23
26	Zimbabwe	1.02K	0.18	1.45K	0.26	978.5	0.17	282.46	0.05	1.17K	0.2
27	Cambodia	1.2K	0.2	1.17K	0.19	1.22K	0.2	1.13K	0.18	1.12K	0.18
28	Jamaica	-	-	159.35	0.15	692.2	0.67	1.14K	1.1	1.09K	1.05
29	Poland	983.2	0.07	985.64	0.07	1K	0.07	986.68	0.07	1.02K	0.07
30	Sweden	7.79K	2.08	7.08K	1.87	5.53K	1.46	2.97K	0.78	884.7	0.23
31	Iraq	26.54	0	53.99	0	0.41	0	1.31	0	821.5	0.06
32	Australia	27.39K	2.95	25K	2.66	26K	2.74	9.8K	1.02	743.41	0.08
33	Mongolia	3.25K	2.75	3.29K	2.74	3.91K	3.21	701.18	0.57	659	0.53
34	Malaysia	0	0	1.89K	0.15	685.63	0.05	722.65	0.06	495.75	0.04
35	Albania	329.55	0.31	39.63	0.04	15.02	0.01	222.71	0.22	416.25	0.41
36	North Macedonia	380.11	0.55	377.54	0.55	168.96	0.25	306.62	0.46	399.22	0.6
37	South Korea	2.48K	0.13	1.52K	0.08	1.17K	0.06	0	0	370.47	0.02
38	Thailand	247.18	0.01	327.26	0.01	418.52	0.02	339.42	0.01	365.88	0.01
39	Kenya	466.87	0.02	334.76	0.02	361.38	0.02	320.09	0.02	341.74	0.02
40	Samoa	-	-	483.16	6.25	0	0	368.48	4.69	291.64	3.69
41	United Arab Emirates	93.47	0.03	605.95	0.18	454.37	0.13	240.17	0.06	240.37	0.06
42	Malta	172.55	0.94	176.73	0.93	188.5	0.98	189.83	0.98	193.26	0.99
43	Jordan	319.77	0.08	43.98	0.01	130.26	0.03	63.1	0.02	176.59	0.04
44	Montenegro	51.47	0.23	83.26	0.38	63.3	0.29	141.15	0.63	162.77	0.7
45	Afghanistan	107.46	0.01	89	0.01	137	0.01	221	0.01	132.47	0.01
46	Qatar	-	-	-	-	34.75	0.03	37.98	0.04	67.74	0.06
47	Turkmenistan	183.47	0.07	87.98	0.03	101.9	0.04	20.53	0.01	60.6	0.02
48	Vanuatu	58.64	0.55	52.27	0.48	63.99	0.57	58.74	0.51	60.04	0.51
49	Guinea	43.29	0.01	40.24	0.01	44.74	0.01	45.87	0.01	48.25	0.01
50	Fiji	283.78	0.85	101.34	0.3	59.61	0.18	19.95	0.06	43.2	0.13
51	Angola	1.01	0	0.84	0	143.24	0.01	117.34	0.01	27.05	0
52	Malawi	0	0	0.03	0	16.2	0	7.5	0	20.02	0
53	Tonga	0	0	0.74	0.02	6.26	0.16	7.02	0.18	14.44	0.38
54	Hong Kong	-	-	202.42	0.07	177.12	0.06	14.28	0.01	13.58	0.01
55	Morocco	9.18K	0.69	5.31K	0.4	8.76K	0.65	3K	0.22	12.85	0
56	Tajikistan	-	-	0	0	7.63	0	29.6	0.01	8	0
57	Belize	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5.68	0.04
58	Saint Kitts and Nevis	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1.27	0.07
59	Macau	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.43	0.01	1.21	0
60	Congo	-	-	0	0	1.74	0	0	0	1.13	0
61	Bahrain	164.51	0.3	133.61	0.25	68.44	0.12	3.48	0.01	0.27	0
62	Ivory Coast	0.08	0	0.09	0	0.08	0	0.06	0	0.09	0
63	Ethiopia	-	-	0.11	0	0	0	0	0	0.04	0
64	Maldives	0.04	0	0	0	0.1	0	0.05	0	0.02	0
65	Mauritius	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.01	0	0.01	0
66	New Caledonia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.01	0
67	Bahamas	0.01	0	0	0	3.4	0.02	0.01	0	0	0
68	Cameroon	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
69	French Polynesia	-	-	0	0	0	0	0.43	0	0	0
70	Ghana	3.77	0	14	0	0	0	0.06	0	0	0
71	Guinea-Bissau	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.05	0	0	0
72	Libya	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.02	0	0	0
73	Sri Lanka	75.49	0.01	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
74	Syria	101.53	0.01	4.61	0	28.86	0	0	0	0	0
75	Yemen	0	0	1.05	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
76	Cuba	5.86K	1.43	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
77	Lesotho	0.15	0	0.77	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
78	Grenada	-	-	0.01	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
79	Sao Tome and Principe	-	-	0.01	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
80	Denmark	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.08

Methodology

The data come from FAOSTAT Supply Utilization Accounts for 2019-2023. Element 5141 reports food supply for human consumption in tonnes, while element 665 reports food supply in grams per capita per day, for tallow. The annual listed total sums reporting countries with available values and excludes regional aggregates. Of the 80 country rows, 75 reported a value in 2023 and 66 of those were above zero. Year-to-year and five-year changes are calculated using countries with reported values at both endpoints, which gives 72 countries for 2022-2023 and 62 for 2019-2023. Percentage changes use the earlier year's value as the base and are not calculated when that earlier value is zero. Reported zeros are retained, blank cells are treated as missing data, and values under 1,000 tonnes are shown to two decimal places.