A nyúlhúspiac és az egy főre jutó nyúlhúsfogyasztás alakulása Magyarországon

Due to its low cholesterol and high protein content, rabbit meat can be a good alternative in human nutrition (alongside poultry, pork, etc.), so I found it worthwhile to review the development of the rabbit meat market and rabbit meat consumption in Hungary. Based on the officially available FAO databases, it can be seen that the amount of rabbit sold is low not only in the world, but also in the EU and Hungary (rabbit meat consumption is also low, as per capita consumption in 2019 was 0.46 kg in the world; in the EU, the leading countries in this respect are: Czech Republic 3.72 kg/person/year, Spain 1.09 kg/person/year, Slovakia 0.82 kg/person/year and Italy 0.75 kg/person/year). Based on the FAO database, rabbit meat consumption accounted for approximately 3% of total meat consumption in the European Union in 2019. In the EU, 234 thousand tonnes of rabbit or hare meat were produced in 2019, which was 8.94% lower than the previous year. In my opinion, the reasons for this are the negative effects of the economic crisis, the changing lifestyles of consumers, their changing eating habits, and the growing dissatisfaction of consumers with the conditions in which rabbits are kept (in addition, keeping rabbits as pets is also increasing). Spain received 23% of the EU rabbit meat production, and Italy and France each 18%. These three countries accounted for approximately 60% of the total rabbit meat production. These countries were followed by the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary (Hungarian rabbit meat production is highly export-oriented) and Bulgaria, which accounted for approximately 35% of the production in 2019. When reviewing the export-import market, it was necessary to take into account whether whole rabbits or cut products are sold. The reason for this is that in countries where whole rabbits are sold, lower sales revenue can be achieved for the same quantity. However, where cut products are sold, sales revenue will be much higher, since more valuable meat products are sold at a higher price. In Spain, which is the largest exporter among the member states of the European Union, rabbits are slaughtered at a low weight, so they can naturally sell the meat at a lower price. In contrast, Hungary sells most of its cut products to the most demanding Swiss and German markets, which is why it achieves higher sales revenue. In my research, I also made a forecast for the consumption of rabbit meat in Hungary. The data examined shows that in 2019, the consumption of rabbit, goat and sheep meat was highest in the Central Hungary region (0.3 kg/person/year), while in the other regions the amount was lower or negligible. Based on the regional analysis, it can be stated that a minimal decrease can be predicted in the Southern and Northern Great Plain regions and the Western Transdanubia region, while a minimal increase can be predicted in the Central Hungary region based on past data.