10 World’s Biggest Turkey Meat-Producing Countries– Based on data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2021, there are 10 World’s Biggest Turkey Meat-Producing Countries. These countries are certainly turkey lovers and favor this species of poultry as a major source of animal meat consumption.
Biologically, the turkey is a large bird of the genus Meleagris that is native to North America. In general, there are two species of turkey: the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) from North America and the ocellated turkey (Meleagris ocellata) from the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. Taxonomically, turkeys are included in several classifications, namely the Kingdom: Animalia; Phylum: Chordata; Class: Aves; Order: Galliformes; Family: Phasianidae; Genus: Meleagris.
Statistically, the worldwide production of Turkey meat has increased substantially. In 1970, the world’s production of turkey meat just 1.2 million tonnes. In 2021, it has become 5.7 million tonnes. Maybe, the popularity of this meat has been increased from time to time along with the growth population of people around the world.
The World’s Production of Turkey’s Meat From 1970 to 2021
| Years | World’s Production of Turkey’s Meat |
|---|---|
| (Tonnes) | |
| 1970 | 1,219,027 |
| 1971 | 1,301,430 |
| 1972 | 1,405,256 |
| 1973 | 1,504,328 |
| 1974 | 1,544,247 |
| 1975 | 1,455,288 |
| 1976 | 1,630,315 |
| 1977 | 1,668,091 |
| 1978 | 1,731,756 |
| 1979 | 1,878,749 |
| 1980 | 2,047,150 |
| 1981 | 2,148,004 |
| 1982 | 2,174,970 |
| 1983 | 2,301,060 |
| 1984 | 2,321,329 |
| 1985 | 2,440,339 |
| 1986 | 2,684,984 |
| 1987 | 3,016,520 |
| 1988 | 3,156,810 |
| 1989 | 3,382,293 |
| 1990 | 3,717,810 |
| 1991 | 3,454,005 |
| 1992 | 3,684,187 |
| 1993 | 3,742,364 |
| 1994 | 3,886,400 |
| 1995 | 4,098,651 |
| 1996 | 4,299,561 |
| 1997 | 4,403,437 |
| 1998 | 4,407,227 |
| 1999 | 4,402,740 |
| 2000 | 5,140,616 |
| 2001 | 5,306,818 |
| 2002 | 5,499,337 |
| 2003 | 5,222,433 |
| 2004 | 5,235,195 |
| 2005 | 5,262,224 |
| 2006 | 5,202,445 |
| 2007 | 5,479,166 |
| 2008 | 5,706,884 |
| 2009 | 5,393,654 |
| 2010 | 5,526,730 |
| 2011 | 5,635,055 |
| 2012 | 5,842,846 |
| 2013 | 5,670,148 |
| 2014 | 5,665,519 |
| 2015 | 5,697,749 |
| 2016 | 6,025,405 |
| 2017 | 5,884,211 |
| 2018 | 6,037,331 |
| 2019 | 6,019,994 |
| 2020 | 6,029,237 |
| 2021 | 5,792,412 |
| Source : FAOSTAT, 2023 | |
Of this amount, the American continent is the largest contributor to turkey meat production. The Americas produce 59% turkey or about 3.3 million turkey meat produced in 2021. Europe occupies the 2nd position as the continent with turkey production with a total of 1.9 million tons or contributes 34% of the world’s total turkey meat production. Meanwhile, Africa and Asia has minor production with output around 241 thousand tonnes and 155 thousand tonnes, respectively.
The Production of Turkey’s Meat Based in Continent
| Continent | Production of Turkey’s Meat in 2021 |
|---|---|
| (Tonnes) | |
| Africa | 241,047 |
| Americas | 3,386,084 |
| Asia | 155,466 |
| Europe | 1,988,670 |
| Oceania | 21,146 |
| Source : FAOSTAT, 2023 | |
More specifically, from a country perspective, of course, the dominance of turkey meat production is still occupied by countries from the Americas and Europe. Of course, this is because the people of these two continents really like to eat turkey meat. Here is a ranking of the 10 largest turkey meat-producing countries in the world. This data was obtained from the report of the FAO Statistical Database (FAO Stat), FAO, United Nations in 2021.
Based on the country’s site, there are 10 World’s biggest of Turkey Meat in 2021. Here is the rank of the biggest producers of turkey meat.
Table Rank of 10 World’s Biggest Turkey Meat-Producing Countries
| Ranks | Country Producers | Production of Turkey’s Meat in 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| (Tonnes) | ||
| 1 | United States of America | 2,526,580 |
| 2 | Brazil | 572,603 |
| 3 | Germany | 441,000 |
| 4 | Poland | 363,150 |
| 5 | Italy | 297,830 |
| 6 | France | 295,000 |
| 7 | Spain | 224,840 |
| 8 | Canada | 158,869 |
| 9 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 128,800 |
| 10 | Morocco | 115,000 |
| Source : FAOSTAT, 2023 | ||
A Brief Description of the 10 World’s Biggest Turkey Meat Producing Countries in 2019
1. United States of America (USA)
In 2021 the United States became the country with the biggest turkey meat production in the world. Based on data from the FAO Statistical database, turkey meat production in the United States reached 2,5 million tons and became the biggest one among other countries in the world.
In this country, there is a major area of turkey meat production. The area includes the states of Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Indiana, and Missouri. Based on data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), in the State of Minnesota, there are about 40 million turkeys slaughtered and processed, then North Carolina with 31 million turkeys, followed by Arkansas with 30 million turkeys, Indiana with 20 million turkeys, and Missouri with 16 million turkeys (USDA,2020).
2. Brazil
Brazil is one of the leading South American countries in turkey meat production. In this country structurally, turkey meat production in this country is dominated by the role of large corporations. The major corporations involved in the Brazilian turkey meat industry are Sadia (a pioneer in turkey meat production), Perdigão, Doux-Frangosul, Butterball LLC, Jennie-O Turkey Store, and Cargill. In addition, Brazil also exports a lot of its turkey meat to several countries in the European Union.
In 2021, in this samba country, turkey meat production reached 572 thousand tons. This value certainly makes Brazil the 2nd biggest country in the world as a country with the world’s turkey meat producer.
3. Germany
Germany is the next country as the largest producer of turkey meat. In 2021, Uber Alles’ turkey meat production reached 441,000 tons. This value certainly makes Germany the 3rd largest country in the world as a country with the world’s turkey meat producer. The main German corporations involved in the turkey meat industry are Heidemark, Wiesenhof and Sütag.
4. Poland
Poland’s turkey meat production in 2021 reached 363 thousand Tons. This data is based on a report from the FAO Statistical Database in 2021. Apart from being one of the largest producers of turkey meat, Poland also exports turkey meat. In 2019, Poland exported more than 200 thousand tons of turkey meat to various partner countries (GlobalTrade,2020).
5. Italy
Italy is the 5th largest country in the world with a production of 297 thousand tonnes based on data from FAO Stat in 2019. This country of Pizza is one of the connoisseurs of turkey. Based on geographic statistics, the northern region of Italy is the center of turkey production with a contribution of 40% of the total turkey meat production in Italy. The northern region includes the regions of Piemonte, Valle d’Aosta, Liguria, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Emilia-Romagna (Castillo et al., 2021).
6. France
French turkey meat production in 2021 reached 295,000 Tons. This makes the country of birth of “Napoleon Bonapart” as the 6th biggest producer in the world in terms of turkey meat production. This data is based on a report from the FAO Statistical Database in 2019. As one of the largest producers of turkey meat, France also exported 141 thousand tons in 2019 to various countries in the European Union (Selinawamucii, 2020).
7. Spain
Spain is the 7th largest country in the world with production reaching 224 thousand tons of turkey meat. The matador country is one of the producers of turkey meat based on data from FAO, the United Nations. In addition to meeting domestic needs, Spain also exports its turkey meat to several countries in the European region.
8. Canada
Canada is the next country to become the largest producer of turkey meat with production reaching 158 thousand tons in 2019. This data is based on a report from the United Nations FAOStat. In this country statistically, there are about 515 turkey breeders spread across various regions in Canada. In this country too, turkey meat is widely served at Thanksgiving and Christmas and has become a culture for a long time.
9. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The United Kingdom is the largest turkey producer in the world. In this country, based on data from the FAO Statistical Database in 2019, Queen Elizabeth’s turkey meat production reached 128,000 tons.
10. Morocco
Morocco become the 10th biggest producer of turkey meat. Based on the FAO Statistical Corporate Database (FAOSTAT), the production of Turkey’s meat from Morocco reached 115,000 tonnes.
Source Reference 10 World’s Biggest Turkey Meat Producing Countries
FAO Statistical Database (FAOStat). 2020. Production of Meat, turkey: top 10 producers, 2019. Accessed via http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL/visualize on 1 August 2021.
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) .2020. Turkey Sector: Background & Statistics. Accessed via https://www.ers.usda.gov/newsroom/trending-topics/turkey-sector-background-statistics/ on 1 August 2021.
Nunez, F. 2009. Brazilian turkey industry takes off. Accessed via
https://www.wattagnet.com/articles/249-brazilian-turkey-industry-takes-off on 1 August 2021.
global trade. 2020. Poland Emerges as the Fastest-Growing Exporter at the Global Turkey Meat Market. Accessed via https://www.globaltrademag.com/poland-emerges-as-the-fastest-growing-exporter-at-the-global-turkey-meat-market/ on 1 August 2021.
Selinawamucii. 2020. France turkey meat export quantities. Accessed via https://www.selinawamucii.com/insights/market/france/turkey-meat/ on 1 August 2021.
Castillo, A., Gariglio, M., Franzoni, A., Soglia, D., & Sartore, S., Buccioni, A., Mannelli, F., Cassandro, M., Cendron, F., & Castellini, C., Mancinelli, A., Nicolaia, I., Di Iorio, M., Marzoni, M., Salvucci, S., Cerolini, S., Zaniboni, L., Schiavone, A. 2021. Overview of Native Chicken Breeds in Italy: Conservation Status and Rearing Systems in Use. Animals 11 :490.
TurkeyFarmersofCanada. 2021. Canada’s turkey industry. Accessed via https://www.turkeyfarmersofcanada.ca/industry-information/industry-statistics/ on 2 August 2021.
