Germany: Goose meat imports down 32.8 percent in ten years

According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), a total of almost 14,800 tons of goose MEAT were imported in 2022. This is 32.8% less than ten years earlier. In 2012, almost 22 thousand tons of goose meat were imported into the country. The decline was especially significant last year: in 2022, 19.1% less goose meat was imported than in 2021 (18.2 thousand tons).

The majority (97.6%) of imports in 2022 again came from suppliers from Eastern Europe: 11.2 thousand tons of goose meat were imported into Germany from Poland (76.1%) and almost 3.2 thousand tons (21 .5%) from Hungary.

Only a small part of the goose meat supply comes from commercial slaughter in Germany. In 2022, the country produced almost 2,400 tons of goose meat. Three quarters (75.7%) of these were produced in October, November and December. December alone accounted for 41.4% of annual production.

Compared to other types of poultry, goose meat plays a relatively minor role in German cuisine. Just 0.2% of the 1.5 million tonnes of poultry meat slaughtered commercially in Germany in 2022 was geese. By comparison, 1.4% comes from ducks, 2.4% from soup chickens, 26.3% from turkeys, and by far the largest share, 69.7%, from young finisher chickens.