Development of consumption and prices of selected types of meat on the Slovak market in the decade 2012 – 2021

The consumer price of food products is an important economic factor that significantly affects the level of food consumption. In this paper it is analysed the development of consumption and prices of selected types of meat in the Slovak Republic in the period 2012 - 2021, specifically pork, beef, and poultry. The basic hypothesis in examining the impact of price changes on consumption was the claim that an increase in the price of a particular meat will be reflected in a decrease in its consumption. Analysed data proved that Slovak consumers prefer pork and poultry to beef. The average Slovak household spends about 30% of total food expenditure on meat. In Slovak households the development of the share of expenditure on food, beverages and tobacco in total household expenditure showed an increasing trend. Slovak households spent 23.79% of their total expenditure on food in 2021, which was 27.02 percentage points (p.p.) more than in 2012. Poultry meat contributed the most to the increase in consumption, which since 2012 has recorded an average year-on-year increase in consumption of 106.02 p.p., beef with an average year-on-year increase in consumption of 105.1 p.p., and pork 102.69 p.p. The consumption of these three main types of meat increased by 37.52% from 2012 to 2021. Based on the development on the meat market in the current period, it can be assumed that inhabitants will prefer fine types of meat, while the price relationships of individual types continue to play an important role.