world pork consumption

On May 2nd, 2009, Egypt began a slaughter of all domestic pigs within its national boarder. The efforts were taken despite the declaration from the World Health Organization that there is "no reason to believe that pigs are transmitting the virus". Many countries are banning pork imports from New Zealand, Canada, the United States and Mexico. China went so far as to quarantine 70 Mexican nationals in Shanghai, for fear of spreading the virus. The Mexican citizens would later be airlifted out of the country.

Lets take a minute to look at the top ten most populated countries in proportion to the top 5 consumers of pork in the world.

1.China

2. India

3. United States

4. Indonesia

5. Brazil

6. Pakistan

7. Bangladesh

8. Russia

9. Nigeria

10. Japan

Religious observation tends to play a large roll in the dietary norms of a specific country. India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria all have significant religious communities that abstain from beef (Hindi) and pork (Islam). The United States, Brazil, China, European Union, and Canada all lead the world in consumption of pork specifically. It is also interesting to note that China in 2006 consumed half the worlds pork at 51 metric tons of pork, while the U.S. consumed 8.6 metric tons of pork. In proportion to each countries population the average Chinese citizen eats 1/2 a whole pig a year and the average U.S. citizen eats 1/3 of a whole pig a year.