Romania had the lowest meat prices in the European Union (EU) in 2019, 37.3% below the EU average, according to Eurostat data released on Tuesday, August 18.

Other Member States with low meat prices are Poland (36.7% below the EU average), Bulgaria (33.8% below the EU average), and Lithuania (29.9% below the EU average), local Agerpres reported.

In contrast, the highest prices of meat in the EU in 2019 were in Austria (45% above the EU average price), Luxembourg (41%), France (31%) and the Netherlands (27%).

The categories of meat covered by these statistics include beef and veal, pork, lamb, mutton and goat, poultry, other meats and edible offal, delicatessen, and other meat preparations, Eurostat said. 

In the first quarter of this year, Romania imported 118,525 tons of meat and edible organs, 7.4% more than in the same period in 2019. The value of these imports increased by 43% to EUR 257.35 million, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture quoted by Agerpres. On the other hand, exports of meat and edible organs between January and March 2020 were 4.2 times lower than imports - only 27,691 tons.

newsroom@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Anastasiia Levchenko/Dreamstime.com)